

A.P.Graves 



Class __J3S(jm^ 
Book. 

CopyiighlN" 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



THAT 

RAILROAD MAN 



BY 

A. P. GRAVES, D. D. 

AUTHOR OF 

**From Earth to Heaven^^^ ^^Down Grade: A Book 
to Save Te7npted Young Men, ' ' and * * Twenty- 
Jive Letters to a Young Lady ' ' 




PHILADELPHIA 

Ifbe ©rteitb anD IRowlanD ipregg 



fUBBARY ofCONQRESS 
Two Copies Receivee 
jAN n 1908 

COPY 6. 



Copyright 1900 by 
A. P. Graves, D. D. 

Published June, 1Q04 



filectrotwe© an^ prtnteb bie tbc 
Bmcdcan baptist publication Society 



ivilelve flundred Thousand I^ailpoad J^eii of 
/Imerica 

FROM WHOM I HAVE RECEIVED ONLY THE 
KINDEST FAVORS AND REGARD ; WITH WHOM I HAVE 
ENJOYED MANY PLEASANT HOURS TO DO GOOD AND TO GET 
GOOD ; AND FOR WHOSE PRESENT AND ETERNAL WEL- 
FARE I HAVE THE MOST EARNEST SOLICITUDE 

BY 

THE AUTHOR 



INTRODUCTION 



It has fallen to my lot to have traveled much, 
both in America and in manv other lands : and I 
have learned to entertain a high idea of the intelli- 
gence, capacity, and politeness of railway men as a 
whole. Out of this appreciation of their character 
has come a deep interest in their welfare. The en- 
tire community and all branches of the church 
ought to be earnestly engaged in promoting their 
highest moral interests. I have examined, with 
that thought in mind, the new volume entitled, 
" That Railroad Man,'' by Dr. A. P. Graves, and I 
take pleasure in saying that it is a suggestive, 
timely, appreciative, and inspiring volume. Its 
wide circulation will do much to advance all the in- 
terests, social and moral, of the railway men of our 
beloved land. All who aid in its circulation will 
confer a blessing on a great and worthy class of 
laborers and American citizens. 

K. S. MacArthur. 

Calvary Baptist Church, 
New York, March 1, 1900. 



PREFACE 



The day I was born there was not a foot of rail- 
road on the globe. A few weeks after my birth the 
first track was laid and the fiirst train was run. I 
have grown up and advanced in years with the rail- 
way enterprise. Nearly fifty years 1 have traveled 
extensively — thirty-four years as an evangelist in 
all parts of the United States. Presidents and all 
the operators of railway systems have been very 
kind to me, and I have constantly endeavored to 
reciprocate their kindness by doing them good. I 
have felt that I enjoyed many social and moral 
privileges of which large numbers of the now one 
million two hundred thousand of these men and 
their homes in our land were deprived. And I now 
in my sunset years send forth this book, ^^That 
Railroad Man/^ to this multitude of my fellow- 
citizens and to their homes in the hope and belief that 
it will be to them a great social and moral benefit. 

A. P. Graves. 

May 1, 1900. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I 

Dignity of the Railroad Enterprise 1 

Name of first engine. — Date and place of trial trip. — 
Extraordinary occasion.— Progress of railroads.— Num- 
ber of miles. — Machinery. — Immense cost. — Number of 
men employed. — Works of reform. — Influence of rail- 
roads.— Their national power. 

CHAPTER II 

The Moral Claims of Railroad Men 12 

My first impressions. — Claims of these men. — Grit and 
grace. — Promotion . — Favoritism . — Merit. — Man pro- 
moted to be a superintendent. — Power of his life. 

CHAPTER III 

The Nature of the Railroad Man's Position ... 18 

One of manhood.— Of philanthropy.— Deprivation 
and exposure. — Criticisms. — Partings and affection. — 
Wise action for the soul. 

CHAPTER IV 

The Railroad Man's Discouraging Inclinations . 25 

Unbelief. — Christian doctrines. — Personal welfare. — 
Means of improvement. — Noble manhood. — Bad habits. 

CHAPTER V 

The Presidents of Railroads 81 

Their number. — Self-made. — Their helpful power. — 
Their benevolence. — Their felt obligations. — Their 
moral responsibilities. — Infidelity a failure. — Few, if 

ix 



X 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

any, infidel presidents. — Need of the hour.— Experience 
of blessing. 

CHAPTER VI 

General Managers of Eailroads 40 

Their moral position. — Establishing towns. — Con- 
ventional advantages.— Secular aggressiveness.— Their 
opening of new regions. — Pioneer work. — Influence 
upon their men.— Elevation and reform.— Happiness 
for railroad men. 

CHAPTER VII 

Superintendents of Railroads 46 

A man of authority. — Character building. — Has vast 
possibilities.— Work of blessing.— The higher positions. 
— The unhappy mistake. — Noble character attainable. 

CHAPTER VIII 
The Railway Ticket Agent 51 

Ticket agencies indispensable. — Idea of agent's work. 
— A safe ticket needed. — Tickets advertised. — God's 
plan. — Exactions. — Agent's kind purpose. — Social 
standing. — Moral standing.— Belief of agents. — Agent's 
reward. — Now. — Hymn. 

CHAPTER IX 

Conductors 56 

Cares.— Annoyances.— Most of them trustworthy. — 
Law for drunken passengers —Opportunities for good. 
— Attentions appreciated.— Usually kind. 

CHAPTER X 

Railroad Engineers 60 

Men of weighty position. — Engineer converted. — 
Family and friends happy. — His death. — Accidents by 
drunkenness. — Engineer who stood for the right. — Tri- 
umph for good of comrades. — Safety demanded. — Men 
of fine impulses. — Surmounting obstacles. — Convic- 
tions. — Wise conclusions. 



CONTENTS xi 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XI 
Brakemen on Eailway Trains 67 



His position.— His exposures.— Faithfulness.— Hap- 
piness of passengers. — They give kind words. — Next to 
the conductor.— Noble examples.— Prepared for emer- 
gencies. 

CHAPTER XII 

General Workmen on Railroads 71 

Army of men. — To be encouraged. — Fine elements of 
character. — Commendable attainments. — Establishing 
character.— Positions not gained easily.— Low ideas. — 
The plowboy. — Rufus Choate.— Easily discouraged. — 
Failure. — Mettle tried.— Victory. 

CHAPTER XIII 

The Wives of Railroad Men 79 

Women endued with power. — Home a center. — 
Christian womanhood. — A happy home needed.— Rail- 
road man injured. — His dying prayer.- Personal ob- 
servation. — Sad home of a railroad man. — His wife and 
children. — Conviction. — Repentance. — Sunshine. — 
Wife should pray. — A cloud of witnesses. — A conse- 
crated woman's voice. 

CHAPTER XIV 

The Children of Railroad Men 87 

Their needs. — Their claim. — Efforts for children. — 
Their moral nature. — Hallowed training. — Imperative 
demands. — Advantages for them. — Duties of parents at 
home.— Culture in good habits.— Evil ways shunned.— 
Bad literature. — Snowflakes. 



RAILWAY ILLUSTRATIONS 



CHAPTER I 

The Railway Track 95 

Analogy. — Teacher of mankind. — The foundation. — 
Mountains tunneled. — Human character. — Weak 
points. — Exhibitions of victory. — The ties. — Teaching 
applied.— The rails.— Analogical lesson. — Object of 
life.— The right train. — Termination. 

CHAPTER II 

The Railway Engine 102 

How made. — Human body. — All the machinery 
should be right. — The false course. — Immense power. 
— The hidden power. — Moral forces.— Rightly directed. 
— A right heart.— Unbridled passion.— Great value of 
service.— Soul powers.— Above rubies.— Soul lessons. 

CHAPTER III 

The Railway Passenger Car 109 

Valuable purpose.— Pure principles.— Something sig- 
nificant. — Picture of human life. — Beautifully ar- 
ranged. — Vehicle for the soul. — Not compelled. — Swift 
in motion.— Guide book.— Way to heaven.— Blind eyes. 
— Faithfulness.— Beware. 

CHAPTER IV 

The Railway Dining Car 116 

Necessity. — Man must eat.— Soul food.— Good waiters. 
— Evil waiters. — Advantages. — Life's journey. — 
Moral volition illustrated. — Freedom to act. — Partak- 
ing. — Refusing. — Sunlight of joy. — No new invention. 
— No stopping at the station.— Pilgrims. 



CONTENTS XUl 

PAGE 

CHAPTER V 

The Railway Switch 123 

Seems insignificant. — Imperative necessity. — Connec- 
tions. — Love and hate. — Small instrument. — Little 
things. — Destruction. — Diamond flashes. — From one 
track to another. — Conscience. — Conveniences. — Action 
of the will. — Eternity of man. — Change needed.— Will 
you make it?— Main track. — Switch off. 

CHAPTER VI 

The Locomotive Whistle 180 

Dormant.— Aroused. — Whistle is small.— Is powerful 
in influence. — Warning. — Winning. — Monitor of the 
soul. — Stop. — Every avenue guarded. — Is a guide. — 
Made happy.— Awakened. — Momentous lesson.— I quit 
it. — These rejoice. — No regrets. — Timely words. — Will 
you receive? 

CHAPTER VII 
The Railway-car Brakes 138 

Railroad engineer.— Afraid no more. — Cable and an- 
chor. — All right. — I am safe. — Brakes of decision. — 
Bible and drunkards. — Reason enough. — Man needs 
brakes. — Brakes applied. — Fond regrets. — Down brakes. 
—If I only had.— A decided stand.— Cable chain.— One 
pull.— Be right. 

CHAPTER VIII 

Headlight of the Railway Engine 146 

Railway officials suggestions. — The Creator's state- 
ment.— Figure of the eye. — The great necessity. — Adap- 
ted to every need of the heart. — Light a means of 
safety.— The Sun of Righteousness. — Striking incident 
of the headlight. 

CHAPTER IX 
The Railway Lantern 151 



Light needed.— Red, w^hite, and green.- Dark places. 
— The Bible. — Another guide.— Signal for duty. — Joy in 



XIV CONTENTS 



PAGE 

the light.— The sleepless guide— Obstructions. — Morn- 
ing dawn. — Headlight six miles.— Increasing light.— 
Swallowed up. 

CHAPTEE X 
The Grip-car Railway 156 

Ingeniously made. — Hidden propelling power.— The 
grip. — New inventions. — Drones and laziness. — Under 
lying principles. — The cable underneath. — The narrow 
opening.— Way to heaven. — Strong faith. — Heaven it- 
self. 

CHAPTER XI 

The Trolley Railway 164 

Propelling power. — Actuating motive. — Recognition 
of character. — Its perpetual secret. — Executes plans. — 
The conducting wire.— Power from above. — Brightness. 
— Satisfying service. — Signs of progress.— Hopeful ex- 
pectations. 

CHAPTER XII 

The Elevated Railway 172 

Foundation. — Stations. — Lessons. — Distinctive dififer- 
ence.— Elevated.— Paying the cost.— Soul elevation. — 
Road above. — Road below. — Moral improvement. — In- 
finite benefit. — Failure. — The better way. — Live to learn. 
— You must climb. — Noble railway men. — The steam- 
boat train.— Order issued.— Liberty.— What is it?— The 
terminus.— The highway. — The chariot of blessing. 

CHAPTER XIII 

The Railway Stations 180 

Frequent detentions. — All classes. — Accommodation. 
— Accepted by millions. — Various features. — Watching 
for the station.— Unbelief. — Stations of moral action. 
— ^The blood. — Prayer station. — Thy pilgrimage. — 
Heaven. 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Trunk Railway Lines 186 



Magnitude. — Commanding influence. — Life's callings. 
— Large responsibilities. — Acquiring wealth. — Unspeak- 



CONTENTS 



XV 



ably happy. — No human independence. — Accounts re- 
ported. — Their salutary power. — Christianity. — Untold 
blessing. 

CHAPTER XV 

The Railway Union Depot 191 

Activities of partnership. — Man in God's image. — 
Many roads meet. — So with men. — Perplexities. — Anx- 
iousness. — Celestial road. — The Cross. — Long lines 
meet. — Mutual connections. — Various reforms. — Asso- 
ciated blessings. — Safety. — Paradise of God. — Uniting 
on the other shore. — Popular at headquarters. 

CHAPTER XVI 

Vital Railway Benefits 200 

Pearsal the ticket agent.— His conversion.— Wife 
also converted.— Happy family.— Their joy.— Is all of 
God's grace. — Little girl eight years old. — Mamma gone 
to heaven. — Conductor converted.— Wife happy. — De- 
sire to adopt the child. — She died. — A railroad in song. 
— God's call to railway men. — Going home. 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



CHAPTER I 

DIGXITY OF THE RAILROAD ENTERPRISE 

^MALL beginnings make large endings.'^ There 
^ is a conflict in history as to the location of 
the first railroad, whether it was in Darlington, 
England, Pennsylvania, in America, or a small 
town in South Carolina. By the best evidence I 
can get, August 8, 1829, was the day of the trial 
trip, and Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was the place 
where the event occurred. ^^Stourbridge Lion'^ was 
the name of the engine that drew the first train. 
The town, then the wealthiest in the State, having 
but a few hundred inhabitants, was but three years 
old. It was a time of extraordinary interest. All 
the inhabitants turned out. The farmers for forty 
miles around came to town. The occasion was 
signaled by the firing of an old Queen Anne cannon 
brought from New York. The steam was generated 
by fire made out of anthracite coal, from mines in 
the Lackawanna Valley. The railway track was 
made of hemlock rails, eight by ten inches in thick- 
ness, placed four feet and ten inches apart, and 

1 



2 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



spiked to hemlock ties. Not being well seasoned 
they warped considerably before the day of the trial 
trip. Nevertheless they were used, and thus was 
commenced one of the greatest enterprises the world 
has ever known. 

One can hardly imagine, looking at the gigantic 
proportions of our railway system of to-day, that 
within the limit of so few years the first engine and 
car were made, the first ties and rails were laid, 
and the first spike was driven. But so it is. In- 
credible as it may seem, there are now one hundred 
and ninety-five thousand miles of railroad in this 
country, one million two hundred thousand em- 
ployees, thirty-five thousand engines, which cost 
about twelve thousand dollars each ; sixty thousand 
passenger cars, and one million five hundred thousand 
freight cars. 

The capital invested in these vast lines and re- 
sources is estimated to be about one hundred and 
nineteen billion dollars. The gross earnings last 
year are said to have been nineteen billion dollars, 
of which there was paid in wages about five hun- 
dred million five hundred thousand dollars. And 
all this immense growth from so small a beginning 
in about seventy years. Yet such an enterprise in 
its incipiency could but point to the greatest de- 
signs and results. 

The progress of such an enterprise must be 
marked with very great interest and anticipations. 
These, with such foundations for hope, could never 



DIGNITY OF THE KAILROAD ENTERPRISE 3 

be doomed to disappointment. The course of no 
other great enterprise has ever been characterized 
by such uninterrupted success. And further, the 
old adage, " Necessity is the mother of invention," 
has here given the strongest exhibition of its truth. 
Constant progress and improvements have excited 
the closest attention of a wondering age. 

All nations have been provoked either to build, 
or want a railroad ; and in our own land there is 
scarcely a town or hamlet in which there cannot be 
found railroad accommodations. In the beginning 
of this great movement every town and city not 
only wanted a road, but the railway managers aimed 
to put their lines in communication with these 
centers in every State. And while this has been 
going on, the wild lands of the West have induced 
emigration from Europe and the older States of our 
own country, making great demands for railroad 
facilities. Railway corporations have not been slow 
to see this. Marvelously have they encouraged new 
settlements, until in many parts of the new States 
and Territories, they have surveyed routes, laid 
tracks, run trains, and built stations before scarcely 
a person had settled about them. This state of 
things does not last long, however. Very quickly 
farms are made and towns are built. To the rail- 
road enterprise, above all others, may be attributed 
the astonishing scenes now before our vision in 
Western life. True, in many similar aspects we 
behold the activities and life of Eastern and South- 



4 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



ern cities. Progress in no other scheme or system 
has ever been like this, not even in steamship lines, 
which belt the world. Besides its vast progress, 
the very nature of the enterprise is full of interest 
in character and consequences. It has a strong 
bearing upon every person, household, agricultural, 
mechanical, and mercantile pursuit. There is 
scarcely a settlement in the whole country where, 
at your very doors, there are not facilities for long 
or short journeys. By this, postal facilities are 
afforded by which, at the expense of a penny or 
two, you can converse daily with friends many miles 
away. Business, with every convenience for our 
homes and towns, is dispatched with great ease and 
rapidity. Religious, educational, and political con- 
ventions, and even the funerals of our departed 
loved ones can, by this wonderfully providential 
enterprise, be attended on a few hours^ notice. 
And with this for those outside railway ranks, and 
yet dependent on these facilities for the conveni- 
ences of life, what shall we say of the railroad men 
themselves? 

With one million two hundred thousand em- 
ployed in the various ranks of railway life, with 
their service on the one hand and their livelihood 
on the other, there are considerations of great 
moment. Add to this their wives and children 
and dependents, and I think it may be fairly 
believed there are twelve million fully enlisted 
in the railway lines. Besides this, call to mind 



DIGNITY OF THE RAILROAD ENTERPRISE 5 

the vast numbers who own stock in the trunk and 
smaller roads, and you have a very great number 
who are wholly or in part supported by railway 
corporations. In this view we have, of people 
actually supported by railway corporations, besides 
exerting an immense influence, more than twice the 
population of New York City. And while we thus 
classify the railroad interests and people, we must 
regard them only as a component part of our com- 
monwealth. They are but a strong ligament by 
which the great w^hole is fitly joined together.'^ 
No branch of industry or public interest is like 
this. In some respects our nation's life is dependent 
upon this enterprise. Its moral, as well as secular 
aspects, have an important bearing. These are not 
what they might be and ought to be, but they will 
compare favorably with other enterprises of industry 
in our country. 

There are many decidedly Christian men in 
various railroad corporations who wield a strong 
influence for God and humanity. Some of the best 
helpers and supporters I have found in religious 
revival work, for thirty years past, have been rail- 
road men. In the temperance reform they are fast 
coming to the front. Indeed, total abstinence by 
railroad employees has become a necessity. The 
people will not trust their lives and property in the 
hands of drunkards. This railroad managers feel. 
One large corporation in the West has issued this 
order : " Persons employed in running trains, in any 



6 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



capacity, who are known to drink intoxicating 
liquors, will be forthwith discharged.'^ Several 
others have sent out a similar order, which is said to 
seriously atFect the business of thousands of saloon 
keepers. These are but examples of many. The 
ball is rolling. It will be nothing strange if the 
temperance battles now hotly raging, and which are 
destined to have a mighty victory, shall find a 
strong arm of their strength in the railroad men 
of our country. Besides this there is now going 
on marked agitation on the subject of suspending 
the running of trains on the Sabbath. Some roads 
have already issued orders to this eflFect. And they 
now give testimony, after months of trial, that it is 
a success, and a benefit rather than an injury. This 
may yet become universal. It is the opinion of 
many influential men at present that this is feasi- 
ble, except, it may be, the livestock trains which 
travel long distances, and express trains that carry 
perishable goods. And it is believed if railroad 
managers should unanimously adopt this plan, the 
people of all classes would soon cheerfully concur 
in it. They could scarcely fail to do so when they 
see the benefits of righteously observing the Lord's 
Day. 

Another feature of the railway enterprise is seen 
in its present influences upon the activities of the 
country. Take the iron trade in all its forms and 
powers of industry, not only in its bearing upon 
the manufacture of rails and railroad machinery, 



DIGNITY OF THE RAILROAD ENTERPRISE 7 

but its vast necessities and supplies in other 
branches. From the ore beds in the mountains 
to the finished product of the factories^ railways are 
indispensable to the transportation and trade. How 
would it be possible to carry on this department of 
industries of our country with its thousands of the 
manufactories and tens of thousands of men, and 
many millions of capital in almost every State? 
No such trade or development could be possible 
without the railway system. 

And what should we say of the coal trade and 
development by this means ? Our homes, business, 
manufactories, churches, schools, gas-lighting, steam- 
ship navigation, and, indeed, the propelling power 
of the railroads themselves, are so utterly dependent 
upon this commodity that it would seem almost 
impossible for our country to exist without it. And 
thousands of trains are employed daily to draw it 
to every part of our land. What but railroad con- 
veyance could ever carry this article to our homes 
and centers of necessity? It is exceedingly doubt- 
ful whether the coal mines of our land would ever 
have been opened and utilized had it not been for 
the invention and employment of this means of 
transportation. 

And then the grain trader which has become a 
source of such untold wealth and supply to our 
people, has found in the railway enterprise the right 
arm of its strength. It may well be said and be- 
lieved that the vast empires of the West were 



8 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



opened by railroads. Were it not for these lines of 
communication, where would be to-day the great 
wheat fields and the men to make them? Strik- 
ing out as pioneers, the railway corporations made 
the great highways to uncultivated lands, and the 
people soon followed. Now what do we see and 
hear ? Millions of acres of golden grain waving in 
the wind, billions of bushels ready for the market 
and our homes and every form of consumption, and 
the tidings wafted on every breeze that untold mon- 
eyed wealth is flowing from these vast resources 
into our country^s revenues and the pockets of our 
capitalists. Can the wisdom of our greatest men 
tell us what could ever produce such wealth for our 
people but the wonderful system and march of the 
railway enterprise ? It is doubtful. 

The gold mid silver tirade is no small matter to 
be counted in the category of our national and pri- 
vate benefits. This is vital. But with all its im- 
portance, where would it be to-day were it not for 
the trunk lines and branches of our railroads ? We 
can hardly conjecture. As soon as the first specks 
of gold and silver were discovered in the moun- 
tains and river beds of the wild territories traversed 
hitherto only by roving Indian tribes, men of heart, 
muscle, and brains began to push the railway track 
to the "Golden Gate.^' And from this branches 
were stretched out in every direction, until from 
ocean to ocean trunk lines and their branches reach 
all places where there can be a possibility of gather- 



DIGNITY OF THE RAILROAD ENTERPRISE 9 

ing the precious dust. Machinery and men to 
work it have been quickly transported to the mines, 
and immense loads of golden fortunes have been 
brought back, until mints are worked, and treasuries 
are filled in every great center of our country. 

But what we see of this vast enterprise is all in 
the past and present. Yet, with such a view and 
scene, what may we not anticipate for the future ? 
It is probable that not one person living can form 
an approximate idea of what the future will bring 
forth. As not a man could conjecture seventy 
years ago what would develop in such an enterprise 
up to the beginning of the twentieth century, so not 
one can anticipate the inventions, improvements, 
and developments of the railway enterprise in the 
near or remote future. There can be no doubt that 
it Avill be grand beyond all description. Its future 
prospects are bright. The building of new lines, 
towns and cities springing up along their track, and 
the march of industry of every conceivable kind, 
pushed on by this system of indomitable energy 
and power, will doubtless astonish the nations of 
the earth. 

With its present advantage in commercial inter- 
ests it has a prospect of enlarging and pushing 
forward every branch of trade to incalculable di- 
mensions. In educational interests it will give 
transportation to educators and their helps, such as 
building material for universities and schoolhouses, 
books and apparatus, until our land shall be filled 



10 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



with intelligence and lettered power by the educa- 
tion of our home and foreign population. 

Political matters of every character will be 
closely allied to the future of railway movements. 
While they will have much to do in shaping the 
progress and prospects of the railway system, it 
will have much to do in controlling ^Hhe powers 
that be.^^ Amid the complications of the past, in- 
triguing politicians, as well as leaders in some rail- 
way corporations, have doubtless contrived to shape 
laws for their mutual and personal benefit. But as 
the railways enlarge and multiply they will grow in 
conformity to the will of the people and the general 
political benefits of the country. Courts of justice, 
county. State, and Territorial, will share in their 
benefits. The sessions of Congress and legislatures 
will be more and more facilitated by the railroads, 
which will ever readily assist in the prosecution of 
our governmental affairs. The prospects of rail- 
road conveniences increase continually, Sunday- 
school, missionary, medical, and editorial work, 
conventional, and of every grade. On the frontier, 
in every home and hamlet, the messengers of grace 
can be carried with their counsels, sympathies, and 
prayers. The most ignorant of citizens and smallest 
of children alike can receive the teachings of truth 
and righteousness. The great work of evangeliza- 
tion never had, nor can have, a stronger ally than is 
found in the railway corporations, and prospects of 
marching on to victory brighten every day. 



DIGNITY OF THE RAILROAD ENTERPRISE 11 

One of the grandest features of the railroad en- 
terprise of our land is that it has ever been will- 
ing^ yea, anxious, to help on works of reform and 
philanthropy, and in no feature more so than in vital 
Christianity. And its prospects for usefulness and 
helpfulness in this direction were never so good as 
now. It is a matter of congratulation for railroad 
men themselves that they have this disposition, and, 
on the other hand, of hopefulness to the friends and 
advocates of truth that they have such a gigantic 
ally. It is mutually a good omen. If, with such 
assistance, the past makes such a vast showing, what 
may we not hope for the future, since amid the 
whirl of commercial activities the leaven of truth 
and righteousness is being sent into every avenue 
of our public and private life ? Truly, the morning 
dawneth. 



CHAPTER II 



THE MORAL CLAIMS OF RAILROAD MEN 

IT is now nearly two-thirds of a century since^ 
while a very small lad, I walked across a green 
field and up a hill to see the first train of cars from 
Boston to Worcester. An indelible impression was 
made upon my mind. Indeed, it was one that has 
increased with the growth of the railroad enterprise. 
Then I had little thought of the railroad men (un- 
less it was to think that somebody had made a ^von- 
derfiil invention), but the very peculiar appearance 
of the locomotive and cars commanded my atten- 
tion. But, as years have rolled on, and with them 
have come improvement and enlargement in railroad 
enterprises, I have come to feel deeply that when 
all that has been done, and the last invention for 
railroad improvement shall have been made, yea, 
more, when the last vestige of rails, cars, and all 
material shall have passed out of sight, the first 
inventor and all inventors and operators of the 
roads in their moral spiritual natures shall still exist. 

What a thought, and what a reality ! Then have 
these men and their families any moral claims upon 
themselves and upon the world ? Certainly they 
have. One intelligent view and one sober thought 

12 



THE MORAL CLAIMS OF RAILROAD MEN 13 

will compel this conclusion. The most distinguished 
merchant, the most eminent professional men among 
editors, priests, doctors, or educators, have no more. 
The farmer's claim can be no greater. And per- 
haps as his dangers in their nature are less, so his 
moral claims in some respects might be less. And 
when we look at the railroad official's position, witli 
the liability of being called at any moment to face 
the emergencies of a fearful disaster, we are con- 
strained to feel an earnest anxiety that his moral 
nature may be prepared for the responsibilities of 
the hour. Look also at the anxious homes of multi- 
tudes of railroad men and behold the loud and 
needful calls for moral attention amid the resources 
God has placed within our hands. 

I do not single out this class because no others 
have claims upon us. Everywhere there is a call 
for help in grace. But I write thus because of the 
neglect of the past, the demand of the present, 
and the encouragements for the future to do good to 
the vast numbers of the railroad men of our time. 
Every sentiment that moved the heart of the Son 
of God to visit this world to bless mankind should 
actuate us in this work. 

Every president of a railroad, every manager and 
superintendent, every engineer, conductor, brake- 
man, and operator of whatever kind, has, within 
him a nature, and in his every duty a claim, de- 
manding our sympathies and prayers. We cannot 
look upon this demand too strongly. It calls for 



14 



THAT KAILROAD MAN 



earnest action. And so much the more as the num- 
bers of these men are increasing so rapidly. Never 
has the public mind been so taxed to regulate the 
conduct of these men in every commonwealth as 
now. In not a few corporations there is great dis- 
position to breed discontent and riot. And with 
this, means and measures of the baser sort are re- 
sorted to, to carry out wicked plots. Failure is not 
the worst thing in such movements. This is almost 
always sure to come, but also moral disaster not in- 
frequently comes to soul and body. Sometimes 
individuals, and sometimes whole families, endure 
protracted sufferings that may be worse than death 
itself. And then beyond this, large corporations 
have at such times endured perplexities and inju- 
ries that could liardly be corrected in years. Why 
these distracting and injurious movements ? What- 
ever causes may be named, one answer I am sure 
may be given, and that is, that there is a lack of 
moral sentiment in railroad men themselves, and 
in the community on their behalf. There is by far 
too much of the notion among the people that this 
class of men are outside the pale of moral culture, 
not to say moral needs. This notion is false, and 
should not be entertained for a moment. In a pub- 
lic life of many years and large intercourse with 
these men, I have found it too sadly true that the 
moral claims and needs of railroad men are under- 
estimated. It need not be so. It should not be so. 
They are our brothers, their wives are our sisters, 



THE MORAL CLAIMS OF RAILROAD MEN 15 

and their children are our children's associates and 
schoolmates. And our churches, our homes, and our 
hearts are called upon to follow them in remem- 
brance and sympathy, on their engines and trains 
and posts of labor, and above all, to help them by 
our attention and prayers in their fearful surround- 
ings of intemperance and profanity. Thanks to 
many important organizations which are already 
working a work of blessing in this respect. 

Thanks for the Christian Association and the 
chapel car. May the usefulness of these be in- 
creased many fold. But the true nature of this 
moral demand must not be overlooked by the rail- 
road men themselves. I speak now more particu- 
larly of the masses of w^orkmen. There is a prin- 
ciple among men that enjoins that if a man would 
be what he ought to be, whatever others may do, 
he must help himself. This is true here. It is 
just as possible to be a true man in the railway shop 
or on the train as elsewhere. Let the men of our 
railway corporations, large or small, make up their 
minds to be men, good men, and our country will 
w^itness a change that shall be more radical and 
beneficent than has hitherto been thought of. Such 
a thing is possible. Many have proved it already. 
Grit and grace will assure it to many more. And 
I believe the day is dawning that shall witness this. 

J^ow let me add in this moral bearing one im- 
portant thing. It is this : The soul is the foun- 
tain of all moral action. This w^ill bear investiga- 



16 



THAT EAILROAD MAN 



tion. I think it cannot be denied ; and if it be 
true, it is so with all railroad men in office, shop, 
or on the train, and with every member of their 
families at home, as much as Avith any other human 
being. Look well to this, then, dear reader. And 
in view of this, I urge every one of the classes 
addressed in this book to candidly consider his per- 
sonal standing for another world. Decide and act 
wisely for the best, that every moral need of your 
soul and body may be satisfactorily cared for. Let 
me mention to you the case of one railroad man, as 
an example, a man whom I knew personally. He 
was a man only second or third in official position 
on a road which leads out of the largest city of the 
West, and is one of the very largest corporations of 
this country. But I would remind you that he did 
not obtain the experience which I am about to re- 
late by being superintendent. Railroad men usually 
reach positions by promotions on account of merit. 
Sometimes they do so by favoritism, not often ; and 
when this is so, it is to be deplored. But when Mr. 

was in the lower ranks he formed a purpose 

looking toward true Christian manhood. He took 
his position. It proved a blessing to himself and 
others around him. With his heart right with God 
and man, and a hidden life of soul-satisfaction 
within, his influence began to be marked on every 
hand until he was superintendent of a Sunday- 
school and a railroad, commanding thousands of 
men at the same time. His family shared in the 



THE MORAL CLAIMS OF RAILROAD MEN 17 

blessing. After a while a division superintendent, 
who had run a career of profligacy in the habits of 
drinking, profanity, and gambling until his men felt 
his debauching influence and largely followed his 
example, came to a sad and untimely death, and 

Mr. became master of his position. 

The power of his good life was at once felt, alike 
by the men under his charge, their families at home, 
the patrons of the road, and the residents along its 
lines. Who will say that the position and experi- 
ence of this railroad man was not good, commend- 
able, grand? Not one. A similar position of 
influence or example, in one form or another, is 
within the reach of every man in the railroad ranks. 
And for this, for each one, we plead. 



B 



i 



CHAPTER III 



THE NATUEE OF THE RAILROAD MAN^S POSITION 



U are men. In stating this, of course no new 



J- thing is expressed. But the vital fact of our 
being needs to be stated again and again. It is 
probable that not one in a thousand in city and 
country realizes the standing of his being. Made 
in God^s image and possessing all the faculties of 
human and immortal endowment, you are men, not- 
withstanding the sad fact that so many debase 
themselves. I freely admit that it is too true that 
from the highest moral and intellectual attainments 
in official management and mechanical invention, 
down to the lowest grades of laying ties and rails 
upon the railroad beds, many seem to act as though 
they were brutes and not men. Yes, every one of 
them is a man. And he should treat himself ac- 
cordingly, and expect everybody else to do so. 
The magnitude of his relations dictates and demands 
this. How vital that he recognize this fact within 
himself and feel its power in all its elevating force. 
This is the living position, and a recognition of it 
is the earnest cry of the hour. A man, with all the 
endowments of divine creation and capabilities of 
true manhood, in the highest office, on the engine, 




18 



NATURE OF THE RAILROAD MAN^S POSITION 1 9 



in the conductor's responsible position, or attend- 
ing to the thousand minor duties — yes, a man. And 
no ill-treatment of himself can obliterate this. 

What grand possibilities are in his grasp if he 
rightly observe it. Could I induce the hundreds 
of thousands of railroad men in this land to wake 
up to this weighty thought of their position and 
worth, or even a tithe of them, I should be abun- 
dantly rewarded for publishing these lines. 

Your position is one of large blessing and philan- 
thropy, I positively believe there is no one channel 
through which so many means of blessing flow to 
the people as railroads. Look at it commercially 
or morally, it is the same. Their gigantic propor- 
tions are increasing mightily every year. And as 
every wheel and spring in the watch has an intimate 
bearing on the mainspring, so railroad men and 
every member of their families have a relative 
bearing upon every railroad enterprise. Families, 
with a vast deal of their eating and drinking mate- 
rial, wearing apparel, together with the means of 
building the houses that shelter them, Sunday- 
schools with their libraries and running equip- 
ments, churches in building material and the ways 
of perpetuating them, trading houses with all their 
boasted wealth and merchandise, are utterly de- 
pendent upon railroad men for support. In the 
light of this shall we be forgetful of these men, 
only now and then thinking of them with neglect, 
or cold, heartless criticism? Or shall the men 



20 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



themselves look upon their lot as they would the 
lot of a jack mule which is only used for beastly 
drudgery ? Nay, let every one stop and think of 
the debt we owe to ourselves and each other. And 
further, if it be true that many of our railroad 
friends are compelled to spend cheerless, stormy 
nights amid the peltings of snow and rain upon the 
road, are deprived of society with their families 
much of the time, and, above all, are denied even 
Sunday privileges such as many others enjoy, let us 
remember that they are our personal benefactors. 

And besides this, if we find the management en- 
gaged in conducting business in some different way 
from that in which we would do it in the practice 
of Sunday travel, or any other plan, let us wait, 
laboring wisely for the desired end, without too 
severely criticising, remembering at the same time 
that they are often placed in very trying positions 
beyond their control. And who does not know 
that railroad men scarcely ever have a holiday to 
themselves? The people compel them to be their 
servants on such days. True, it is a time of finan- 
cial advantage to the corporations. But all happi- 
ness does not consist in getting a little money. 
Holidays are considered, as a rule, special family 
days, and, could they do so, railroad men would 
enjoy them as much as any other people. Is it no 
matter of benevolence to the masses of the people 
of the commonwealth for them to be denied this 
and to serve them in a way to promote their happi- 



NATURE OF THE RAILROAD MAN's POSITION 21 

ness ? I contend it is^ and for this they should at 
least have our thoughtful remembrance and respect. 

Another thing in this connection concerns the 
commercial position of the class commanding our 
attention. New homes by the hundred are being 
afforded us by these men. Farms for our boys and 
girls are not only being offered us in the great 
West, but the railroad officials are opening up high- 
ways to them in every direction. Is not this a 
work of philanthropy to multitudes of our fellow- 
citizens who are panting for industry and bread? 
Were it not for these, what would the people do ? 

Possibly it is true that there are too many who 
in a communistic spirit will charge upon the railroad 
corporations most unjust extortions. And the j^osi- 
tion is one that gets abundance of cr^iticism, whether 
it deserves it or not. It does almost seem at times 
as if the people felt a license to pour out their 
anathemas as ocean waves upon the railroads for a 
single fault, forgetful that before this fault they had 
received a thousand blessings, and also that it is 
hardly presumable that the corporation, or any one 
of its employees, would be willing to suffer an injury 
to themselves or others if they could control matters 
otherwise. But some must criticise in spite of 
every virtue. It is very much like the man Avho 
heard the minister preach, and was wonderfully 
pleased at all the good things he said until a thing 
was expressed that he did not like. Taking oflFense 
and meeting the minister the next day, he expressed 



22 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



his feelings to him, whereupon the clergyman de- 
clared the thing said a mistake, that he did not 
intend it. Yet the man violently persisted in the 
criticism. So the preacher reiterated that it was a 
mistake and unintended. But the critic would not 
be satisfied. Seeing the folly of this way of correc- 
tion the minister inquired, What good thing did I 
say? Here the hearer was speechless. He could 
not remember any of the good things said, but the 
one bad thing could not be forgotten. So it often 
is with a railway corporation, manager, conductor, 
engineer, or brakeman ; they may shoAV the people 
a thousand favors, but if one ill thing is said or 
done, then w^oe is upon them. 

I do not say these things because I think rail- 
road men faultless. They are not, any more than 
other people. But I do believe the official mana- 
gers of the roads, as well as the workmen, have 
enough self-interest at stake to insure the greatest 
care for the safety of their supporters and them- 
selves. And when an accident or mistake in any 
form occurs, candid consideration for their perplex- 
ing position, instead of severe criticism, should dic- 
tate the feelings of the hour. 

Dangers too, at times of a very aggravating char- 
acter, enter into the position of railroad men. This 
cannot be disguised. Entertain the thought and 
advocate it as much as we please, that there is no 
more danger upon the railway than elsewhere, we 
yet cannot rid ourselves of the consciousness that 



NATURE OF THE RAILROAD MAN^S POSITION 23 

there is. So the railroad men themselves feel, and 
so people generally feel. One can hardly enter a 
train without a thought of the dread disasters of the 
past. Official cars and passenger and freight trains 
alike must share in the dangers consequent to their 
course. Passengers on excursion trains always feel 
hanging over them the dread of impending danger. 
Mirth and laughter may drown it for a time with 
some, but it is the constant dread by many at home 
and also of those who share in the journey. The 
sad story that is told in the broken home circles of 
engineers, conductors, brakemen, and, indeed, of 
railway men of every grade, who in the past left 
the loved ones with smiles, kisses, and affection, 
never to return alive, awakens the keenest premo- 
nition that these things may be repeated when least 
expected. 

In view of these facts and realities, do I raise un- 
necessary thought and alarm when I say that this 
position with patrons and railway men themselves 
should not be passed over lightly ? No, no, it 
should not be. Neglect here is not wise. It is the 
height of foolishness. It is not enough for corpo- 
rations to survey and make roads, appoint presi- 
dents and managers, and establish the enterprise, 
and care the best possible for its success and safety ; 
it is not enough for a conductor to take his ap- 
pointment and look well to the convenience of the 
passengers and collect their fares, or attend to his 
freight business ; it is not enough for engineers to 



24 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



prepare themselves, and then ply their vocation 
with care amid its thousand dangers; it is not 
enough for brakemen to attentively fill their places 
as minute men ; it is not enough for all the station 
agents and office men along the roads to faithfully 
attend to their daily duties ; yea, it is not enough 
for the wives and children to make social and pleas- 
ant homes for these men ; but there are claims upon 
every one of them to be ready to change worlds at 
any moment. The soul has claims as well as the 
body. And this demands your attention with all 
its immense importance. Will you observe it ere 
dangers and calamities forbid ? 



CHAPTER ly 



THE RAILROAD MAN's DISCOURAGING INCLINATIONS 

I MEAN by discouraging inclinations, everything 
of a derogatory character bearing upon the 
moral or temporal well-being of our railroad friends. 
And the first thing that is impressed upon my mind 
is the natural state of the heart. 

This is a vital matter, and one by which the 
interests, moral, secular, and domestic, are to a very 
considerable extent determined I am quite well 
aware that a deal of importance is attached to mere 
intellectual culture as the one thing upon w^hich the 
best moral and secular ends depend. No man can 
esteem this, as far as it goes, higher than I. But to 
overlook the needs and culture of the heart is fatal 
to a good life. As well might you undertake to 
draw a train of cars with an engine with all its 
machinery in its place, but without steam, as to 
rightly conduct the steps of life without a right 
heart. The fact is, nothing is more full of ill-omen 
than to neglect this. Nothing is more full of hope 
than to regard it. Let officials and others once 
take a stand for God and humanity, how it does 
change the very atmosphere about them. 

This I have witnessed again and again. In con- 

25 



26 



THAT EAILEOAD MAN 



nection with this is the tendency of very many of 
this class to unbelief in the 7i€eds and doctrines of 
Christianity, And ^yhat is all the more noticeable 
in this denial^ is their persistency in the face of so 
much light and conviction to the contrary. It is 
amazing to see the willful antagonism of such^ when 
if a child or wife sickens^ or dies^ or they them- 
selves are by accident or sickness laid aside^ quickly 
is the Christian minister called to counsel^ give com- 
fort^ read the word of the Lord^ W^Y^ sing. 
But in spite of these convictions their determined 
unbelief has sadly and often belied the best im- 
pulses of the soul. But here let me say that inti- 
mate connection with railroad men for more than 
thirty years has very often impressed me that^ as a 
class, in good convictions and desires^ and noble, 
benevolent impulses, they are not one whit behind 
those who in any other rank of society lead in 
prominent works of philanthropy. 

It is because of their great need on the one hand, 
and their worth thus excited in my heart on the 
other, that I pen these lines. It is sad to see im- 
mortal men, with such needs and possibilities alike, 
so cheaply selling themselves to infidel unbelief 
and careless moral neglect. This should not be. 
Their own personal happiness on the one hand, and 
the grand advantages for escaping this on the other, 
forbid it. 

The lack of special regard for their own icelfare 
manifested hy railroad men is another discouraging 



HIS DISCOURAGING INCLINATIONS 27 



featnre. Tens of thousands of them throughout 
this land^ would this hour stand high in the ways 
of ^enlightenment and sobriety if they obeyed the 
dictates of their own convictions and opportunities. 
There never was an age surpassing this, or even 
equaling this, in advantages for attaining superior 
positions by personal determination and endeavor. 
These are found in night and day schools for study, 
mechanical and industrial in character ; they are in 
Railroad Christian Asssociations, churches, Sunday- 
schools, and almost every conceivable means for 
moral attainments. And it may be said to the 
praise of some men that these elevating influences 
are rapidly growing in behalf of railroad men. If 
there were no such influences or institutions there 
might be some excuse, and it could not be quite so 
sad tu see so many giving themselves to saloon 
habitg, a waste of time in profane babbling, the 
tippling of intoxicants in circles of dissipation, and 
in the polluting influences of evil associations. But 
when good parents see their sons go astray ; when 
loving mothers, who have instilled into the hearts of 
their boys the best principles of virtue and religion 
so that the kneeling at her side in evening prayer 
can never be effaced from memory ; when pious 
wives of railroad men are employing every impulse 
of love and affection to attract them to happy 
homes ; when many friends are assiduously at work 
to afford every possible means of blessing within 
their reach ; and when the managers are seeking by 



28 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



forbearance^ care^ and interest to get them to desist 
from wrong-doing, to save them from a disgraceful 
discharge, and they will persist in a dissolute and 
fatally downward course, desolation and sorrow are 
likely to follow. 

Be it remembered, that of the many noble speci- 
mens of manhood in the railroad ranks, not one 
ever attained that position by taking the debasing 
or downward road. The royal path was theirs. It 
may be yours. But mark this, none can make it so 
but yourself. Trials there may be in this path, but 
rays of sunshine beam upon every step. Discour- 
agements usually attend low motives and low pur- 
poses. Every man can choose and decide which 
path he will travel, and none can do so for him but 
himself. Appeals may be made by the many around 
him, yea, their influence may seem salutary, if not 
to say imperative, but not one person on earth or in 
heaven can decide for him the path of virtue and 
blessing but himself. For instance, take the habit 
of swearing, to which many a railroad man is fear- 
fully addicted. He pursues this course by day and 
by night. The path is dark and rugged, if not to 
himself, it is so to his friends. To say he is ac- 
customed to it and the habit is so strong that he 
does not know when he utters the blasphemous 
words that dishonor God and shock the hearts of 
many around him, does not help the matter. It 
only shows the depths of moral degeneracy into 
which he has fallen. I can hardly believe it is 



HIS DISCOURAGING INCLINATIONS 29 



possible for a man to get so low as this. What, in 
this land of Christian surroundings, a man get so 
low that he may pour out oaths of blasphemy and 
not know it ? As well might the sun shine brightly 
all around liim, and he with eyes wdde open say he 
could not see light. As well say when he is in the 
water, drenched to the skin, he cannot feel the wet. 
And if it were possible for him to get into such a 
morally insensible condition it would be all the 
more discouraging for reformation by himself or 
others to help him. The evidence that such is not 
the case, is seen in the fact that when swearers are 
in good company they usually desist from this habit, 
and this shows their consciousness of its meanness 
and wrong. How sad then, that there is such per- 
sistency on the part of so many in this evil way ! 
It does no good. It never did, and never can, but 
always breeds meanness and disgrace. If a single 
reader of these lines shall feel sharply rebuked by 
what I have said, let him stop and decide whether 
I speak true things, and if I do, let him be manly 
enough to own up, and desist from his sad and 
offensive habit. 

And then that so many railroad men are in the 
habit of intemperance, is most fearfully wrong in 
its influence and results. I have known many in- 
stances where new roads, especially in the West, 
were being projected, and the saloons would multi- 
ply like swarms of bees as the grading progressed 
and the rails were laid, and it was sad, indeed, to 



30 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



see the ruin of fathers, sons, and brothers who were 
there employed. This is laying a foundation for the 
good of humanity with a vengeance. Yet so it is. 
And then the inclination is to perpetuate this habit 
in a greater or less degree through the rank and file 
of the men who run the enterprise. A few years 
ago, in an Eastern State, I knew an instance of an 
engineer partially under the influence of liquor, 
who, when directed to wait at a station a little be- 
cause another train was behind time and entitled to 
the road, suddenly cried out: ^^I will go on if I 
send the whole train to hell.^' He did go on, and 
in a few minutes there was a crash and many souls 
were hurried into eternity. He jumped from his 
engine and fled for his life. This was before any 
special efforts for reform for railroad men, as far as 
I am aware, had been made. But a brighter day is 
dawning, and one of the most hopeful signs is, that 
it is reported that several leading corporations of 
our country have recently ordered all their grounds 
and stations cleared of drinking places and intoxi- 
cating liquors, and the discharge of all their men 
who drink. This is good, and I believe it will 
work like a mighty charm. Hitherto this fatal evil 
has been exceedingly discouraging in its progress. 
To a great extent it is so now. But prayer is being 
answered, and eflbrts are being blessed for reform. 
For these things, I believe, none are more grateful 
than railroad men themselves. 



CHAPTER Y 



THE PRESIDENTS OF RAILROADS 

THERE are now about five hundred and fifty 
presidents of railroad corporations in America. 
Counted in numbers this may not seem large. But 
when we think of the trunk lines and the smaller 
routes, their power over the land cannot be told. 
Singled out as a class of our fellow-citizens they 
form a part of our people which is not the least 
significant. 

Without careful reflection, you could scarcely ap- 
preciate this representation by counting. Not that 
they are better as a class, or superior in importance, 
to educators, editors, farmers, politicians, or mer- 
chants, but by virtue of their position they stand in 
the very front rank of society. Account for it as 
we may, and consider it as we will, we are forced to 
the conclusion that this is true. They stand behind 
the moving force of the country in advance of all 
other civilizing powers, except Christianity itself. 
And even this is greatly dependent upon these men 
for its onward march. 

It is a matter of no small moment to notice how 
these men are made. As I have cast my eye over 
the list of these men many times the past few years, 

31 



32 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



I have been amazed to see what they were, and what 
they are. As a class they are emphatically self-made 
men. Comparatively few of them have ever trodden 
college halls. But by bare dint of pnsh in brain 
and muscle they have attained these high positions. 
If it be said that circumstances have made them, I 
remark, examination might possibly show that they 
created the circumstances. What but the tact of 
the closest calculation, the genius of w^ell-regulated 
brains, perseverance, indomitable energy, and a pe- 
culiarly adapted discernment to apprehend the needs 
of the people, and a readiness to adjust means to 
supply these needs, could ever have covered our 
land with iron roads? Nothing. All the schools of 
learning in our country, all the money in the banks, 
the wealth of sea and land, all the farms of the con- 
tinent, and all the public and private enterprises of 
the people, could not produce these men. 

When these men were needed they sprang up, 
usually from boys in the humble ranks of life. To 
be sure, means for the molding was at hand, but the 
metal was in themselves. The lives and position 
and works of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Alexander 
Mitchell, Albert Keep, H. J. Jewett, Jay Gould, 
Thomas Scott, Russell Sage, Marvin Hughett, Rob- 
ert Harris, C. P. Huntington, and many others, some 
of whom have gone to their reward, while others 
still live to see the growing productions of their 
hands, hearts, and brains, fully attest this. Mr. 
George Gould, Stuyvesant Fish, A. B. Stickney, E. 



THE PEESIDENTS OF RAILROADS 33 



S. Ripley, A. J. Cassatt, Edwin Gould, O. S. Lyford^ 
and many others now filling high positions as rail- 
way presidents in various parts of our country, are 
enlarging the great demands for the railway busi- 
ness in the future. And this moment there is room 
for more, and boys now living to make them. God 
has bestowed the gifts, let men cultivate them. 

And then the position of influence which these 
men hold is highly worthy of note. Indeed, it can 
hardly be noted. Tongue cannot tell it. You can- 
not write it. Probably there is no class of men in 
the world who from the nature of their position, are 
compelled to stand as guides to so many people as 
these. What positions they hold, and what an in- 
fluence they are, in every corporation. If right 
morally, what a sway for good they must have over 
the thousands of employees. And if wTong, it must 
be equally great for evil. And this influence in a 
greater or less degree must exert itself upon the 
characters of its patrons. Take, for instance, the 
published rule of the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific 
Railroad, of which Jay Gould was president : Per- 
sons employed in running trains in any capacity 
who are known to drink intoxicating liquors will be 
forthwith discharged.^^ And why should it not be 
so ? I venture the remark that passengers of this 
line will feel the force of this order in every mile of 
their travel. Yea, more, in every pound of freight 
that is sent, the people will feel it has a safer pas- 
sage. No class of persons can be more helpful to 

c 



34 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



the temperance reform than railroad presidents. It 
lies in their influence, and the safety of the people 
demands that they stand in the front ranks of the 
temperance army. For themselves and the public 
this would be a blessing. 

This is not all. Every enterprise for good or 
evil among the people is so interwoven with rail- 
road progress that the moral position of the heads 
of these corporations must have a strong influence. 
How important that it should be right. This leads 
me to speak of their helpful power to the common- 
wealth. Of course this is seen in every commercial 
enterprise, in all plans and purposes of civilization, 
and in the grand march of evangelization. They 
are often seen projecting hundreds, not to say thou- 
sands, of miles of roads, and at the same time have 
agents in the thickly settled cities and towns of the 
Old World inducing emigrants by tens of thousands 
to settle upon the new lands along these lines. 
Upon the same train that carries iron for the new 
track, they often carry, free of charge, lumber for 
churches, and missionaries to preach the gospel to 
the new settlers. What channels are these for 
elevating the people ! And while our land is dotted 
with religious conventions of every conceivable type 
engaged in the great work of reform, how busied 
are these heads of railroad corporations to plan and 
execute for their conveyance and convenience. 
Rarely do we find one of these men narrow or small 
in this matter. Sometimes it seems marvelous to 



THE PRESIDENTS OF RAILROADS 35 



see their open-handedness ^ when we consider the 
multiplied and almost annoying applications they 
have for help. With all this weight of power and 
disposition to benevolence it is matter for grateful 
thought and the prayers of all good people that so 
many of them are God-fearing men, while their 
number in this direction is multiplying. Looking 
at the vast helpfulness of these men to the people 
in a benevolent way, take one instance as published 
in an Eastern paper recently. The writer says : 
"A close examination of the business career of suc- 
cessful men shows that they owe their real successes 
not to their tricks and dishonesty, but to the ability 
with which they have provided for some wants ot 
their fellow-men.'^ In talking with a gentleman 
recently on this subject who hesitated to accept this 
theory, we asked him to name some one whose 
wealth, as he thought, had not been gained by doing 
good to other men. He named Vanderbilt. With- 
out undertaking to say whether Mr. Vanderbilt was 
or was not a generous man, let us simply examine 
into the way in Avhich he made his money, which 
was supposed to amount to nearly a hundred million 
dollars. All this money has been made out of rail- 
roads and steamboats, and is largely invested in 



^ In this connection it is worthy of note that, as I am told, 
the chapel cars — those churches on wheels — of the Amer- 
ican Baptist Publication Society, have been from the begin- 
ning taken from point to point without a cent of cost for 
transportation. 



36 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



them now. Suppose you want to go from New 
York to Chicago. You can walk there^ but it will 
occupy about forty days on the journey, and will 
cost you at least eighty dollars for the food you 
consume and the clothing you will wear out on the 
road. The Vanderbilt roads will take you there for 
twenty-two dollars in twenty-four hours. Reckon- 
ing three dollars a day as the average value of time 
of travelers to Chicago, the net saving to each one 
by taking Vanderbilt's train is over one hundred 
and seventy dollars. Vanderbilt's share of the 
profits on each passenger's ticket does not exceed 
five dollars. In this instance, therefore, he makes 
five dollars by doing one hundred and seventy dol- 
lars' worth of good to another man. 

It is just because he is able to confer such enor- 
mous benefits upon other people in proportion to 
the benefit which he received himself, that he is so 
wealthy. 

What an exhibition of good to the people is this. 
And what is true of this man is true of numbers of 
other railroad men in a greater or less degree. 
There is not an enterprise of any character, large or 
small, in the whole land that is not more or less 
atfected by the forces set in motion by railroad cor- 
porations. 

The felt obligations of railroad presidents are 
weighty and vital. My impression is that the 
masses of people know or care little about this. It 
is not true that the poor and those in humbler posi- 



THE PRESIDENTS OF RAILROADS 37 

tions of life have all the trouble and trials that there 
are. And none in the higher positions can realize 
the claims upon them and the threatening dangers, 
more than these men. Each day they are liable 
to have the most flattering encomiums or the 
most dire anathemas that can be heaped upon their 
heads. Why this ? Because of their peculiar obli- 
gations to serve the people. Take a line of scores, 
hundreds, it may be thousands, of miles of road, 
with large numbers of employees, and one man is 
looked upon by the people as obligated to see that 
their persons, rights, welfare, and property are pro- 
tected from fear and danger. No man, or class of 
men, can possibly understand fully the burden of his 
heart day by day. To say he does not care, would 
be not only false, but an unjust charge upon the 
wisdom of those who gave him this responsible 
trust. There can be no doubt but that in every 
calamity on any road there is untold sorrow in the 
heart of the president. Where there is claim for 
support of disabled men, and families rendered 
needy by frequent mishaps, as for charities of any 
description, he would be less than human if he did 
not feel the claim. He does. And I have found, 
as a rule, these men have the largest impulses of 
philanthropy ; every really needy cause shares in 
their attention. 

In view of the relations of railroad presidents 
thus hinted at, I wish in closing this brief chapter 
to refer to their moral responsibilities. It is but 



38 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



fair to believe that^ especially in this highly favored 
country^ the higher the position of a man the more 
is he responsible for his moral standing and influ- 
ence. This is a Christian land. That our country 
is emphatically such none can deny. True, infidel- 
ity boasts and makes great claims. It claims to 
advocate good and do good. But failure may well 
be written upon its every path. It redeems no 
pledge in this direction, while the Christian church 
legitimately points to her light, knowledge, joy, and 
blessing. She claims much and promises much, 
and every time she redeems her pledges. When 
she says she will plant schools of learning and 
orphan asylums, and set in motion works of re- 
form by establishing churches and missionaries 
in every community, she does it. There is not a 
place in this land which does not feel the quicken- 
ing pulse of her righteous hand. It is a matter 
of hallowed encouragement when we find railroad 
presidents giving their hearts and hands to such 
means and measures. Such there are. And while 
I have thoroughly traveled this land for more 
than forty years and had the means to know inti- 
mately many of this class, I have scarcely ever found 
them infidels. Indeed, I do not at this moment call 
to mind one. On the other hand, while there are 
comparatively few who profess personal piety, al- 
most invariably they have a word and an act by 
w^hich to encourage moral teaching and doing — in a 
word, Christianity. 



THE PKESIDENTS OF RAILROADS 39 



And in this line the only need of the hour I can 
see is personal attention, as required in the Bible, 
to heart experience through faith in God and his 
Son Jesus Christ. This would add much to the 
position they already occupy ; and a grand experi- 
ence of blessing never felt before would thrill all 
the ranks of railroad men, and a new era would 
dawn which would be sensibly marked in every 
grade of society, in city and rural district, through- 
out our country. How could it be otherwise ? 



CHAPTER VI 



GENERAL MANAGERS OF RAILROADS 

THE close alliance of general managers with the 
presidents is only observable in some respects. 
But in many relations there is a marked difference 
that is very apparent. In speaking of them as a 
class I wish to first notice the marked moral posi- 
tion of some. One man, the general manager of 
the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, a few years 
ago laid out a town on the branch projection of its 
road in Central Dakota. This was a timely provis- 
ion for the new settlers of the Territory. There 
are now about three thousand people in the town, 
with a rapid increase. The inception of this town 
was marked with the most liberal sentiments and 
provisions for Christian institutions and privileges. 
Already several churches are organized with houses 
of worship built, a graded school building erected, 
with accommodations for nearly five hundred schol- 
ars, besides movements for several religious denomi- 
national schools. What a baptism of moral influ- 
ence this, for blessing the incoming population of a 
new region of country ! And while it is evident 
there would not have been this state of things in 
this place had it not been for the plan and enter- 

40 



GENERAL MANAGERS OF RAILROADS 41 

prise of the railway corporation^ it is equally evi- 
dent that the personal Christian position and experi- 
ence of the general manager had a deal to do with 
it. And who can tell the blessings of this one 
example of town-planting to generations yet unborn? 
I have not singled out this instance because it is an 
isolated case, but because I wish to call attention to 
the real nature of many such. The Western States 
and Territories especially are dotted with towns and 
cities, the nature of whose founding was like this. 
It may be said the citizens who desired these things 
did the work. But what if the railroad manager 
had been an infidel, hating God and religion, and in 
all his movements hedged the way of building up 
holy institutions ? Never could these people have 
breathed such free air of evangelization. 

Now I want to carry the idea of this influence a 
step farther. I was told by a railroad official, a 
short time since, that the manager referred to is a 
prominent member of the Railroad Christian Asso- 
ciation of Chicago. Everybody must know at least 
something of the great worth of this association. 
It does not stop with the railroad men themselves. 
Their patrons feel deeply its influence. It is an 
undisguised fact that where a railroad manager is 
understood to hold a position of true religious prin- 
ciple and integrity, is neither profane nor intemper- 
ate, but rather an advocate of the highest principles 
of holiness, his controlling power is felt in every 
avenue of society. I do not say that those 



42 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



who do not profess this position are not in most 
respects exerting a marked influence for good. 
They are, with rare exceptions. Few managers of 
this kind in the Northwest have accomplished more 
for the convenience and prosperity of the new set- 
tlers than the late S. S. Merrill, the General Mana- 
ger of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. 
Coming up from a day-laborer, he attained a posi- 
tion of decided influence in developing several 
States and Territories. At Clear Lake, Iowa, he 
materially aided in opening grounds for decidedly 
religious and reformatory work. For many years 
past a Sunday-school assembly, camp meetings for 
holiness and temperance, musical and educational 
conventions, were annually held there. He has in- 
fluenced the company to contribute money and many 
railroad accommodations, until its influence for good 
was powerfully felt throughout the State and the 
whole West. Along this line, and other trunk lines 
in various parts of the country, there are many kin- 
dred institutions, which are a recognized power, that 
never would have existed had it not been for the 
wise and liberal provisions of railroad managers. 
But with all this credible array of influence, with 
many of the managers there is need, for their per- 
sonal happiness and the blessing of multitudes who 
are looking to them for guidance, that they so seek 
God and receive into their hearts by personal faith 
the riches of his grace, that all their influence shall 
be in conformity with the highest type of Christian 



GENERAL MANAGERS OF RAILROADS 43 



power. The fact that Christian truth has provided 
for this, and that some have attained unto it, should 
encourage others. 

Besides the moral forces that are set at work by 
these men, their creditable aggressiveness in secular 
movements must not be overlooked. Neither does 
the great worth of this to the country lessen the 
claim that their influence is of a decidedly religious 
character. In the grand march of the railway 
enterprise in this day in which we live, it is not too 
much to say that the men who push its lines are 
the projectors of the nation. By them. New York, 
Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, St. 
Paul, San Francisco, St. Louis, Winnipeg, and 
Montreal, besides the thousands of towns and rural 
districts of our country, are bound together by iron 
bands. This is an incalculable power and must 
eventuate for good or evil. 

But to illustrate the secular phase of its develop- 
ment, let me call attention to the vast Southwest. 
And what is true of this section is every day prov- 
ing true, more and more, of all parts of the country. 
Only a few years ago, J. C. Gault, of the Wabash ; 
A. A. Talmage, of the Missouri Pacific ; T. J. Pot- 
ter, of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ; S. H. 
H. Clark, of the Union Pacific, together with other 
managers, devised liberal things for the country in 
this direction, such as no human mind can compute 
in its resources of wealth, of mind, and material 
things. It is only the beginning of the end, which 



44 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



at present can only strain every power of the brain 
to even calculate. It is only a small cradle waiting 
to rock the generations yet unborn. Will any doubt^ 
then, the propriety of my plea that the men who 
plant the seed thoughts of this aggressiveness 
should be imbued with the vital experience of 
Christianity ? I mean personally. Surely they are 
doing an abundance of proxy Avork. I have 
scarcely ever met one of them who is not willing 
to generously help on any well-accredited agent of 
evangelization. But to bear about a personal faith 
and sympathy in the work would add much both in 
happiness and usefulness to every feature of their 
varied enterprises. No tongue can tell the value of 
this. Every hour brings forth new evidences that 
gazing eyes are directed toward this new Eldorado 
for homes, livelihood, and happiness. But for the 
projectors of these lightning highways into vast and 
unmeasured tracts of land, what numbers of reduced 
and almost homeless families would be compelled to 
live in wretched want in the older States. No 
doubt money is made by the companies, but what 
returns of plenty and happiness are bestowed upon 
the needy thereby. 

No man who has not actually traversed these 
plains and looked in at the open door to behold 
their possibilities for humanity can appreciate the 
pioneer work of railway .managers. Along the 
railway lines of the Southwest, stretching from 
Toledo to San Antonio, Texas, and over into 



GENERAL MANAGERS OF RAILROADS 45 

Mexico, and from St. Louis to Southern California, 
there are indescribable possibilities for the genera- 
tions soon to follow, seeking life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. 

I must also add a few thoughts on the influence 
of the managers ivith the masses of the railroad men. 
It is estimated that there are quite twelve hundred 
thousand men in the railroad ranks of this country. 
This would give several hundred to each railway 
manager, on an average. The influence exerted in 
this direction must be absolutely immense. And it 
cannot fail to be for moral elevation or debasement. 
If the manager is a man of high moral determination, 
his power for the elevation, reform, and high moral 
standing of these men could but be most salutary. 
To be sure, it may be said that they may and should 
attend to their own personal welfare and responsi- 
bility. This is true in a sense. But it is indisputable 
that every higher official has much to do with shap- 
ing the character of his subordinates. We call, then, 
for a candid consideration of this in the ranks of the 
railway managers. It is a weighty matter, and if 
rightly acted upon will greatly enhance the happi- 
ness of the masses of railroad men. 



CHAPTER VII 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF RAILROADS 

IT is generally understood that the superintendent 
of a railway corporation is a man of authority, 
influence, and power. He has commanding and dis- 
cretionary power that few other officials have. This 
is true, be he general or division superintendent. 
In this he is officially recognized more than any 
other way. And thus there is not only a felt but 
recognized influence that, be it for good or evil, 
cannot be denied. The very position compels atten- 
tion, molds character, and affects the minds of not a 
few. This may be truly said of any one man in 
this position. And if this is true, what shall be said 
of the many scores of them in all parts of this 
country? Weighty, indeed, are their official re- 
sponsibilities. Here a work of character building 
and a preparation for the beyond are attached to 
every day's experience and influence. You will say, 
Is not this true of every person ? Yes. Then why 
single out railroad superintendents, or any one of 
them ? Simply because I am now addressing these, 
and coupled with them is the vast array of men, to- 
gether with their families, who serve, directly or in- 
directly, seventy-five millions of people. There is a 

46 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF RAILROADS 47 



large and vital distinctness in the position of this 
office and the men that fill it. Its prominent and 
responsible features cannot go unrecognized. They 
will be clearly observed and contact with them will 
be keenly felt. They will elevate or debase the lives 
and characters of all about them. This is inevita- 
ble. How noble has been the influence and the ex- 
ample of some of these men upon all with whom 
they had to do. I have admired them. And few 
could be found who have not ; I mean from a rail- 
road standpoint. Because this is as true of railroad 
men as in any profession in life. Every one is 
recognized from his own distinctive position, and 
acts with influence and power from that point. 

In view of this, the requirements of this office 
present no meager claim on the men filling it. 
While they are weighty, their possibilities are vast. 
I suppose there are few positions in life in which 
the people require so much of uprightness, and few 
are there where it is more highly prized. It cannot 
be otherwise. Their lives and goods are put in 
charge of these men for conveyance and safety. And 
it is not too much to say that there is an instinctive 
element in our nature that on the one hand recoils 
at the thought of dangerous and debasing influences 
in words or deeds, while on the other hand, all that 
is noble and grand is admired by the worst of men. 
This is a truth that is apparent everywhere. Sad as 
are the lives of some men, they themselves are alive 
to acts of true greatness in others. The active 



48 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



prominence of railway superintendents affords them 
vast advantage to show out the noblest elements of 
true manhood^ as well as to admire them in others. 
Often they are surrounded by large numbers of men 
in their employ w^ho in almost every moral respect^ 
as to regard for the Sabbath, habits of profanity, in- 
temperance, and sobriety in any and all forms, will 
pattern after them to a very great extent. Besides 
this, outside the ranks of their own men, they have 
much to do with representative men, and the lower 
classes, as they are sometimes called, in community 
after community, often for hundreds of miles. What 
an opportunity for activity and power ! And does 
this require no special attention as to moral tone and 
bearing ? To the credit of some, be it said, they are 
alive to the demands, and their names go abroad as 
sweet incense. Others are learning the Avay. Let 
the call continue, and let it be obeyed. 

Looking at the other side, we can but note the 
sad effect loherever the moral influence is adverse to 
the welfare of the community. If it is only silently 
adverse, it is sad. The being of man in the midst of 
such a busy age as ours demands a decided influence 
for his mental and moral benefit. No half and half 
sentiment or doctrine will do. There are cravings 
to be satisfied, and they will not be hushed until 
they are. Infidelity cannot do this. In the ranks 
of railroad men to-day there are thousands who are 
panting secretly in the longing avenues of their 
hearts for a solace unknown to the world and untold 



SUPEKINTENDENTS OF RAILEOADS 49 



by the world. You say a guide and religious teacher 
must come to this work of supply and blessing. 
Granted. But if the recognized superintendent is 
adverse, or even silent in the work, is there not 
something wanting in behalf of these men for this 
world and another ? It is an undisguised fact that 
if this official has a warm sympathy of godly love it 
is an untold blessing, and if not, it is sad. While, 
then, recognizing gratefully all the favor of the good 
examples and influence of such portions of them as 
stand like bulwarks for God and humanity, my plea 
is that in the vast ranks every sad feature be 
shunned, and the highest step of influence gained. 

And this brings me to a few thoughts upon the 
fact that this is a position of great possibilities as 
ivell as responsibilities. Nothing is more common 
in this world than to settle down over our responsi- 
ble duties and forget the higher positions in the 
advance. This is too true of not a few. I know 
railroad men like promotion. But it is not true that 
this is sought and obtained too much only in a secu- 
lar view. Whatever may be said to the contrary, 
the church and the world alike admire true man- 
hood. This is sure to win in every avenue of life. 
And, as a rule, it will find a place for its merit in 
significant Avays along our railway lines. I do not 
mean barely in the official position. This is promi- 
nent ; and if a man has the ability within him, with 
usual opportunities, he will attain higher and higher. 
But with this he will find himself loaded down with 

D 



50 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



great demands in moral responsibilities. All the 
interests of railroad corporations, together with the 
welfare of their men, evince this. To be prepared 
for it in heart as well as brain is wise ; yea, more, it 
will ever be fraught with the best of consequences. I 
am aware it is often thought that such an experience 
is not attainable by a railroad man. This is a mis- 
take. What has been, may be. And that which is 
attainable by one is attainable by another, and there 
are among these officials as fine and exemplary 
Christian men as there are in the world. To attain 
such a position is grand, noble, and eminently to be 
desired. I know of no position in life in which 
more can be accomplished by such an experience. 
And the world never demanded it more than it does 
to-day. Light and help for its encouragement are 
on every hand. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE RAILWAY TICKET AGENT 

IN the prosecution of the purpose of the railroad, 
ticket agencies are indispensable. The tickets 
must be carefully arranged to suit the needs of each 
traveler. The general passenger agent has very 
great responsibilities. He must plan for every 
point of his road, and also its relations to various 
routes, advertise the times and places, and aim at 
the best accommodations for the travelers. The 
leading idea of this agency is traveling to a destination. 
Not a person arrives at the office but the thought 
impresses you that a ticket is wanted and a destina- 
tion is to be reached. The agent inquires, considers, 
acts, and furnishes the needed certificate for trans- 
portation to the desired point. Travel is the up- 
permost thought of the agent, the office, the posi- 
tion, and the business. 

So it is with our life. Both the agent and those 
he serves are travelers to a goal and destiny of the 
greatest moment. How important that each one 
should have a ticket to the eternal world, whither 
every one is going, that is sure and undoubted. No 
one would think of taking a ticket on the railway 
until after the ticket agent and traveler alike had 

51 



52 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



been very careful to see that it was safe and sure 
for the right destination. Likewise also, and even 
with more care, should all travelers to eternity look 
after their assuring passport to the heavenly land. 

As the agent advertises icell his route and tickets for 
every earthly destination^ so God has been mindful of 
every man^s journey through this world and to the next. 
Not one person need mistake the route to the better 
life here, and the heavenly destination with a safe 
passport to reach the haven without doubts or mis- 
takes. By many ways, by the Bible, books, papers, 
and good men and women of every conceivable 
character, has the Lord warned, guided, and blessed 
men in the narrow way that leads to life eternal. 
The tickets have been issued and are on sale. They 
are the word of God, the promises of God, repent- 
ance toward God for sin, faith in the blood of Jesus, 
and acceptance of the ticket on the terms laid down 
in the advertised list. The price to be paid is sur- 
render to God and the acceptance of the ticket as a 
free gift, Christ having lovingly paid for it that you 
might have a ride free to the land of delight and 
glory. 

Exacting terms are often made by the passenger 
purchasing the tichet that are unreasonable and unwise. 
Every agent is anxious to serve the traveler with 
every helpful convenience and wise direction for his 
journey. He wishes to be kind, polite, and respect- 
ful. But with all this you will see passengers stand 
at the office and exact most unreasonable things of 



THE RAILWAY TICKET AGENT 53 



the agent^ because the traveler does not understand 
all the rules and conditions of procuring the ticket. 
This is true of many persons who would gladly live 
better lives and die with refulgent rays of glory 
shining about them. But while they might procure 
a ticket that would give a joyous journey through 
this world and an abundant entrance to a sorrow- 
less land^ they spend their time doubting the word 
of God and speculating over the doubts they have 
invented by the perversions of their own minds that 
have no foundation in fact. They have every rea- 
son to believe the railway company has made every 
provision of a good road^ cars^ motive power^ and all 
needful appliances along a route of attractive beauty 
and enjoyment^ and that they might well at once 
pay the price^ receive their ticket^ and go on their 
way. Many do this^ and some do not. The ticket 
agent is pleased and helped when the traveler pays 
his money^ takes his ticket, and gladly passes on to 
his destination. But when the traveler stops and 
questions the arrangements and requirements of the 
company the agent is tried and hindered in his 
duties to help in the best possible way, not only the 
traveler, but the whole traveling public with which 
he has to do. 

How true to life this principle and practice are 
with many in the social and moral world. Social 
opportunities are many and on every hand. When 
a person has a disposition to be polite, kind, and 
agreeable to those with whom he comes in contact, 



54 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



be it with individuals or in social gatherings, he 
pays the price of happy hours and good influences, 
of favor with God and man. Such impulses of a 
kind heart are always appreciated and are a source 
of blessing. 

Beyond this there is a still higher position. It is 
the exalted position of a moral standing Avith men. 
Nothing can be higher than this. When the ticket 
agent stands face to face with a traveler, and both 
alike realize that the one who serves and the one 
who is served are congenial characters, with purpose 
true to help each other in kindness and love, they 
have reached the zenith of mutual gladness in the 
journey of life. The reward of the ticket agent is 
signally apparent. This is a matter of no small 
moment. His pay for his time and labor by the 
railway company is of course quite a consideration. 
But is this all ? No. It is but a small part of his 
compensation if he is as I have usually found the 
attentions of such agents in very extensive travels 
for more than forty years. With pleasure I have 
again and again seen them filled with delight when 
they had conferred a helpful favor upon me in ar- 
ranging a ticket to help me along my journey. 
Doubtless thousands of others have shared in a 
similar experience. Indeed, this is the legitimate 
sphere of a railway ticket agent. And I believe it 
falls to the lot of but few men as to these in this 
position to confer helpful benefits on their fellows 
along the journey of life. While I have had re- 



THE BAIL WAY TICKET AGENT 55 



peated and frequent opportunities to meet them^ 
dropping some kind and cheerful word in their ear 
appreciative of their position, I have almost inva- 
riably found some response that betokened a kind 
heart, purpose for good living, and faith in the 
living God. And many of these agents I have 
noticed were professors of religion, members of the 
church, and devoted Christians, like Mr. F. W. 
Pearsall, mentioned in the last chapter of this book. 
And just here let me give a testimony that in more 
than forty years of very extensive travels from 
ocean to ocean in this entire country, coming con- 
stantly in contact with general passenger agents and 
office ticket agents, I do not call to mind a single 
instance when I found them in infidel beliefs. And 
while they have great reward in the satisfaction of 
patience and love that they have served the multi- 
tude, helping them along the journey of life, the 
Lord Jesus Christ will serve them at the end of 
their earthly journey with a heavenly passport if 
they will now accept a ticket on the Celestial Eail- 
road.^ 



* See hymn on last page of this book. 



CHAPTER IX 



CONDUCTORS 

IN referring to conductors I have a realizing 
sense of their cares, responsibilities, and ex- 
posures. They are numerous. Very few people, 
comparatively, understand the nature of their duties. 
Hence arise the numberless annoyances to which 
they are exposed. To see some persons deal with 
them one would suppose they were subject to no 
rules, and almost or entirely controlled the roads 
upon which they acted. This, of course, is not so, 
since in every case they are acting under orders. 
But the nature of their situation is peculiar in all 
its bearings. I know the conductors of freight and 
mixed trains have relations to their Avork which 
are very different from those of passenger trains 
alone. Yet these feel keenly their cares of live 
and material freight. But to have a passenger 
train freighted with scores and often hundreds of 
passengers and express and mail matter of immense 
value pressed into the responsible care of one man 
for . hours, which often seem to fly like minutes, is 
no small matter. And then the darkness of the 
night, storms, and other like things, frequently add 
great weight to the other momentous cares. I have 
56 



CO^DUCTOHS 



57 



spoken of matters of annoyance often met by con- 
ductors. These they have^ and often from a source 
that should insure greater knowledge and better 
manners. But Avith all these there are rays of sun- 
shine along their pathway. And nowhere are these 
more apparent than the appreciated blessings of 
their hind attention to passengers. Rarely in tens 
of thousands of miles of travel running over a 
period of many years have I received or seen a dis- 
courteous act by a conductor. But in their care 
and helpful attentions I have often felt comforted 
and blessed, and have found this true of very many 
others. There is a deep and heartfelt sense of secu- 
rity running through the crowded seats of a car 
when the parental and gentlemanly care of the man 
in charge manifests itself respecting the interests of 
the train. And in this respect it is almost a marvel 
that managers, in this age of recklessness, have been 
able to man their trains with so many careful and 
trustworthy men. 

But with all this care of so many as to secular 
and physical interests^ there are personal demands 
upon them for a godly state of heart. Of this I am 
assured, from their natural state^ they being like 
other men, from my own personal feelings, from 
the divine word, and from the moral wants of the 
vast numbers coming under their influence. Per- 
sonal knowledge of many conductors who are men 
of experimental Christian power has also taught me 
this. It shows me what they can do with their 



58 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



fellows and those under their charge and care. 
Some have been converted under my own labors 
and others elsewhere^ and I find in these a sympathy 
and power for good unsurpassed by others. It is 
not true^ as some would suppose, that there is a 
cold, heartless isolation that is exceptional with this 
class ; neither is it true that they are incapable of 
the noblest impulses for their own and others^ good. 
There never was in any class of men a better foun- 
dation for the impress and culture of Christian 
power and blessing. In conversation with large 
numbers of them I have rarely found one even 
inclined to disbelief in the divine authenticity of 
the Bible, or to any destructive form of infidelity. 
The personal faith needful to heart assurance of 
eternal life seemed to be the one thing necessary to 
the highest type of soul satisfaction and usefulness. 

But there is another thing I wish to mention : 
The reasonable claim that passengers should know 
and respect their positions. Many do neither, and 
many, if they do know, use their knoAvledge only 
to abuse it. Passengers with mixed notions, tastes, 
and desires, often fill the cars. Very many of 
them often seem to feel that their own peculiar 
rights are to be respected, however distasteful they 
may be to their fellow-passengers, or even to the 
conductor himself. They call for the most constant 
attention, and, if the conductor asserts his author- 
ity to maintain the rules of his train and protect 
others, he is thought to be tyrannical. 



CONDUCTORS 



59 



Recently one of the leading railroad corporations 
has^ it is said^ passed a law that a drunken man 
cannot ride on its trains. This is as it should be, 
and it would be a mercy if every railroad line in 
the land would pass such a rule. Long years have 
I seen the abuse endured of men passing around 
their whisky bottles in the cars, and then, while 
intoxicated, making themselves a nuisance to passen- 
gers all about them ; and, if the conductor interfered, 
he was told that they had their right to do as they 
pleased. Profanity is also an evil that it should be 
remembered is offensive to travelers, and when the 
conductor plies his corrective it is a matter of im- 
perativeness that the offender should not only desist, 
but reform. As I have said, the instances are rare 
Avhere a man filling this position is not only clothed 
with power to protect and guide those who ride 
under his charge, but also in which he does not per- 
form his duties with kindness as well as firmness; 
and travelers observing this will seldom suffer loss 
thereby. 



CHAPTER X 



RAILROAD ENGINEERS 

IN many respects the engineer holds the most 
important position of any railroad man. Many 
an interest of immense moment is dependent on the 
reliability of the one holding this position^ therefore 
we see here the need of this in character and judg- 
ment. But while we speak of this in a general 
sense for the public good, there is a demand back 
of this. His own personal welfare is of as much 
account as that of anybody in the world. He should 
settle this account first. An engineer in an Eastern 
city did this some years ago. He asked a minister 
to ride with him on his engine. The invitation was 
accepted. It was a memorable ride. The conversa- 
tion about his soul and Jesus the Saviour was blessed 
to his salvation. He repented of sin and believed 
in Jesus. This made him a Christian. His wife 
and children were made happy. By this he w^on 
the increased love and confidence of the people. 
Some time afterward, when he suddenly died, pre- 
cious memories of his life were left and a memorial 
sermon was preached that to this day remains as a 
source of joy in the hearts of his friends. Can any 
regrets linger around such a case? Then why 

60 



RAILROAD ENGINEERS 



61 



should not each man of this class seek and secure 
such an experience ? There is no good reason. 
And what commends it to the human judgment is 
that such a personal experience can only add to the 
reliability of such a man. I have personally known 
some men to start their engines while intoxicated 
and run their trains into fearful accidents with a 
terrible slaughter of human life. Indeed, a general 
manager stated to me some time ago that he had 
known engineers run trains when they were so 
drunk they had to be helped upon their engines. 
But a better day is dawning, as I shall show in the 
following chapters on reform. Yet while speaking 
of the need of reliability in these men, I know by 
personal feeling, and also by observation, that pas- 
sengers, the best and the worst, have a feeling of 
security when they know there is a man at the 
throttle who is governed by the highest Christian 
principles of virtue and morality, that otherwise they 
cannot feel. A few years ago an engineer of an 
important passenger train came into one of my 
meetings, became personally interested, gave himself 
to Christ, and soon united with the church. He 
was as good before this as engineers will average. 
But I well remember the admiration that had its 
birth among his comrades, his friends, and very 
many who came under his care in travel. And I 
believe this principle will hold good everywhere. 

I recently had a conversation with a man whose 
personal experience illustrates it. Six years, he 



62 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



told me, he was an engineer. At the expiration of 
his time he had to quit and return home to care for 
his aged parents. He was possessed of the best of 
Christian experience and principles. Soon after 
entering upon this employment his railroad com- 
panions urged his participation in drinking, smok- 
ing, and dissolute habits. He mingled with them, 
but kindly declined any part in their vices. Time 
passed on. After a while one of the foremost of 
his comrades took him aside and said : We see 
your kind, consistent course ; we would be glad to 
have you join us in our frolics, but we know your 
course is right and you are happier than we ; now 
stand fast and we will respect you all the more.'^ 
What a lesson. But here is another chapter in his 
experience. When it became evident that he must 
return home, conversing with some of his compan- 
ions upon the road, he expressed a sad feeling that 
he had done so little good during these years of 
railroad toil. The reply was : " You don't know. 
We have seen your course and felt your influence 
for good. And your mingling with us has made 
the railroad men better around you.'' Who would 
not covet such a testimony ? And from this is it 
not evident that the demands for moral reliability 
within the ranks of railway men may be met by 
them as well as by those without? Also here it 
cannot be overlooked that the iveight of ijersonal 
responsibility in this position exceeds all others. 
This is a marked feature in this particular line of 



RAILEOAD ENGINEERS 



63 



the railroad profession. While it is true that the 
man occupying this position has, as we have shown, 
immense claims upon him to give attention to his 
individual welfare, there is a responsibility in his 
calling that affects the safety and welfare of others 
which seldom falls to the lot of other men. He 
makes one of thousands who daily hold the safety 
of vast numbers of human lives in the balance. 
True, it is a responsibility often fraught with the 
most blessed consequences in the transactions and 
destinies of men. Noble and inspiring indeed are 
some of the times when an engineer starts his engine 
on errands of mercy and beneficence. But even on 
such a mission the whole promise of design and ex- 
pectation may be turiml into sorrow and suffering. 
The engineer may be blamed for causing the sorrow 
or he may be exonerated. But, in either case, feel- 
ings lie buried in his own heart which cannot but 
be keenly influenced by the burden of his personal 
relations to the event. And while I would not 
excuse culpability in a man who was careless of his 
responsibility, I plead that the man into whose 
hands I put my life and material welfare shall be 
treated in the event of a sad catastrophe befalling 
me with at least justifiable confidence in his inten- 
tion and effort to carry me safely; and, if he does 
not succeed, let him have the credit of regret and 
sorrow at the failure. And beyond this, I plead 
that he himself furnish a record to lead to these 
considerations, and also to leave evidence that, if 



64 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



he is the victim of injury or death, he was prepared 
for the change. 

And this leads me to say that the moral possibili- 
ties of this place are good. You may not think so, 
but it is true. There is evidence on every hand in 
favor of this. The impulses of the man not only 
concur in these possibilities, but also show their 
reasonableness. Indeed, I know that the convic- 
tions of this class of men do not essentially differ 
from those of others. Some of their number may 
doubt this ; and the people who have indulged in 
adverse opinions of railroad men as a class may 
doubt it. Yet this does not change the fact, for 
fact it is. I know of no class of men with better 
minds and better impulses, when you get at the good 
side of them, than railroad men. And engineers are 
no exception to this feature. Their moral possibili- 
ties are as great as those of any class of men in the 
world. Perhaps you will ask in what way. Just 
in the line in which other men have sought and 
found the improvement- so needful for the culture 
of every avenue of the heart and mind. But you 
say there are obstacles. Where are there not ? No 
man in any rank of life has ever easily attained any 
position of worth without surmounting obstacles, 
and often those of the severest kind. But this only 
tries his mettle and tests his moral qualities. It 
only makes the attainment the better and the more 
highly to be prized. Obstacles thus overcome and 
pressed into service the man will regard as his 



RAILROAD ENGINEERS 



65 



greatest benefactors. And it seems to me so true 
that any man who has the talent to successfully 
pursue any line of business, can well employ every 
moral power in the best and most satisfying ac- 
quisitions. It only wants right decision, trial, and 
perseverance. Let me say the great vital defect 
with all men is a lack of being true to their best 
convictions. Very often there are well-defined and 
clear convictions of both duty and privilege as to 
the improvement of mental and moral powers. 
These convictions are intelligent and feasible. 
Pursued, acted upon, and cherished for the right, 
they always bring a blessing. Disregarded, dark- 
ness and disappointment possess the mind and ill 
results follow. Does any one suppose an engineer 
capable of doing the work of his position devoid of 
such convictions? It cannot be, in the nature of 
the case. His mind is filled with impressions and 
fruitful in conclusions as much so as is any man or 
any class of men. His mental and moral needs are 
great. This in a greater or less degree he realizes 
continually. To afford himself the supply for his 
mental needs is to allot to himself advancement and 
higher attainments in his profession. To wisely 
attend to moral supplies is to secure to himself per- 
fect hope and satisfying happiness to the soul for 
this world and another. Why should we fight 
against these convictions, when all the records of 
the past in observation and experience full well 
attest the unsatisfying folly of doing so? Why 

E 



66 



THAT EAII.ROAD MAN 



should he struggle against them, when to yield to 
them and act upon them would be much easier? 
Then let the reader of these lines ponder, consider 
candidly, and decide upon wise conclusions to secure 
the best attainments for the human heart and life. 



CHAPTER XI 



BEAKEMEN ON RAILWAY TRAINS 

UMEROUS as are the men in this department 
of railway labor, every one, in the interests 
of secular and moral character, demands personal 
attention. In some respects this is all the more so 
because of their position, so closely allied to the 
safety and happiness of the people. 

The 'position, whether on freight or passenger 
trains, is of no small import. The personal interest 
of one on freight trains is very great. He is con- 
stantly subject to danger and exposure. As to 
human suffering, my heart has seldom been more 
affected than to think of a man, amid the storms of 
rain and snow, and often in most intense cold, upon 
the cars without shelter, hour after hour, and that 
too, sometimes, in almost impenetrable darkness. 
The dangers to life and limb so naturally incident 
to such a place, are often appalling. Again and 
again have I witnessed them in untold agonies. 
Although the brakeman upon a passenger train 
may somewhat differ from this in the nature of his 
service, he nevertheless fills a place with complicated 
demands upon him which are keenly felt. Of course 
I am speaking of those men who make the interests 

67 




68 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



of their employers their interests. There are those 
in all departments of life who care little only to pass 
the time and get their wages. Not so with the 
major part of railroad men. And brakemen who 
man the passenger trains are no mean exception to 
this rule. Their very actions indicate that they feel 
the weight of their responsibilities^ and mean faith- 
fulness. Whatever may be said concerning more 
frequent dangers in railway travel than elsewhere, 
that people do feel more in danger while on the cars 
cannot be disguised. 

This feeling enters at once into the heart and 
sympathies of the brakeman. He realizes that the 
happiness and welfare of every passenger depends 
on the vigilance of his watchful eye. How can it 
be otherwise, when the plying of the brakes at an 
instant's warning may avert immense suffering or 
sudden death from scores of persons? And then 
their hind attentions to passengers are usually 
worthy of especial notice. If there is ever a time 
when persons are especially grateful for care and 
attention, it is when they are passing among 
strangers, and often far away from home. Here 
the brakemen have ample opportunity to show un- 
selfishness. This they often do. Whatever may 
be the motive, it is often noticeable. Why should 
it not be so ? you may ask. There is no reason, 
only that railroad men are supposed to be possessed 
of about as much human nature as other people. 
As a rule, this is often very selfish, and for a public 



BRAKEMEN ON RAILWAY TRAINS 69 



servant of this kind upon a railroad to render spe- 
cial service to those about him is a matter for grate- 
ful remark^ to say the least. Passengers in most 
cases recognize it with favor. Some may fail to 
appreciate, but others will do so. And in this there 
must be with the braheman a consciousness of mak- 
ing others happy. To bless others in this world is 
one source of joy. Such attentions as are needful 
are legitimate with the duties of his employment. 
There may not be stipulated rules for him to espe- 
cially serve the passengers, only to treat them re- 
spectfully and be attentive at each station. In the 
earlier days he had to apply his brake and promptly 
bring the train to a standstill. Fortunately for 
him the air-brake, controlled by the engineer, has 
come, and on most roads the brakeman is relieved 
of this arduous duty. But when the brakeman is 
watchful for opportunities to cheer those who are 
pressed down by illness, the care of children, or by 
being a long distance from home, he will always 
find that kind words volunteered and a little favor 
shown Avill bring forth appreciative looks and words 
that will return with conscious happiness into his 
own soul. It cannot be otherwise. Such is the 
nature of every noble impulse of the human soul. 

The advantages these men possess for giving 
knowledge are very great. This is noticeable 
among the many people with whom they have to 
do. Many of these are cultured and intelligent. 
Others are just the opposite. Hence the advantage 



70 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



of one having in charge in any degree their inter- 
ests. In the railway transportation, the brakeman 
stands next to the conductor in his care and respon- 
sibility. Travelers can but feel the force of this, 
and he can hardly conceive the worth of his golden 
opportunities for the blessing of himself and others. 
Very likely some will say this is too exalted a 
standard for a brakeman on a railroad. But why ? 
Where is there one man, in any position or station 
in life, who does not have an influence in character 
building? Just in proportion as he has mental ca- 
pacity and moral powers he will be an exemplar 
and teacher of his fellows around him. Hence the 
importance of this class being all they can for influ- 
ence and blessing. I know some of these men to 
be noble examples of this character. To know them 
is to feel the warm pulse of their sympathy in holi- 
ness and goodness. In this let me say there is too 
much inclination to barely give culture to the mind, 
while the heart is neglected. But where this is so, 
there is a sad neglect. It is important for his own 
happiness, present and eternal, for every man of 
this class I now address, to secure and bear about 
with him a heart right with God as well as man. 
What joy such attainments would give him person- 
ally, besides blessing others. And then he would 
be so happily prepared for emergencies that may 
come to him. Such knowledge never can be de- 
spised. The years of the past attest full well its 
untold benefits. 



CHAPTER XII 



GENERAL WORKMEN ON RAILROADS 

HAT an array of men is in the ranks of the 



various railroad corporations of this and 
other lands, and it must be admitted that they 
wield an immense power, moral or immoral. The 
task of rightly shaping these talents and this power 
is no small one. If no one man can fully perform 
this task, every one inside or outside their ranks 
who feels a deep interest in their welfare, can at 
least add a helping hand ; therefore, all good citi- 
zens ought to feel an interest in these men, irre- 
spective of their state, tendency, or condition. In 
laying a foundation of triistivorthiness, there is 
ground for the greatest solicitude on the one hand, 
and for the greatest encouragement on the other. 
If rightly helped and encouraged there is reason to 
believe railroad men of every grade can be prepared 
for the best positions in society. Of course it will 
take patience, perseverance, and appliance of the 
best means for this end. But there are as fine ele- 
ments among them to build upon as in the men of 
any other rank. Yet with all this, unless there can 
be laid among them the very best foundation of 
trustworthiness upon which the community can 




71 



72 



THAT RAILROAD MA:N 



place its confidence^ they will be a dishonor to them- 
selves and a reproach to society. And surely pro- 
motion from the lower to higher positions could not 
be expected or given without commendable attain- 
ments. How much there is in cultivating a heart 
sentiment and pursuing such a course as will make 
one entirely worthy of being trusted. There are 
tens of thousands of railroad men who began in 
the lowest grades of labor^ but at once set them- 
selves about establishing a character that would 
inspire confidence and insure success^ who to-day 
command wealthy position^ and the respect and 
attention of the whole people. " A purpose true 
has done it. 

Perhaps some reader of these lines will ask^ what 
is involved in this purpose? I should say the 
first thing to do is to recognize ichat the position 
is in which you are placed. Xone can deny that 
the brightest lights that have ever shone among 
men have arisen not unfrequently from some busi- 
ness positions and surroundings of a very forbid- 
ding character. They proposed to conquer and 
they did so. AVith railroad men there is scarcely 
one who has attained a high position who did not 
sometime or other occupy a very humble position 
among the various grades of general workmen. 
Then is it not possible to rise to places of dis- 
tinction even among railroad men ? And why may 
we not yet hear of high State offices being filled by 
men who once worked on a gravel train or were 



GE^sEKAL WOEKMEN ON EAILROADS 73 



brakemen^ as well as to hear now of great men 
who were once rail-splitters or w^ere drivers on the 
canal ? 

And it may also be noticed that a strong ele- 
ment in such a purpose is determination to rise 
high in the scale of the best principles of citizen- 
ship and virtue. Attainments in high commercial 
or Christian positions were never gained easily. It 
takes grit and grace. But they are just as feasible 
in railroad ranks as any other. I suppose real merit 
is the only element that gives satisfying joy in ele- 
vated positions. This will always do it. Should 
the position be gained by other means^ or the pro- 
fessed merit be only a pretension^ there is always 
more or less suspicion and unrest. But where it is 
trustworthy and entitled to the fullest confidence of 
one^s self and others it is very satisfying. And 
then a full appreciation of everything that is vir- 
tuous and good insures at least a conviction of right 
principles. Without this^ right action cannot be 
pursued. With it there often comes the most ex- 
alted line of thought and action. A low idea of 
these principles for this world and the life to come 
almost invariably gives birth to the abuses and suf- 
ferings of men. And this is probably the most vital 
thing to which the workmen need give attention 
in the general ranks of railroad men. Of course 
this is true of others^ but it is especially true of 
these because there is w^ith many of them such a 
tendency to low^ thoughts, words, and deeds. And 



74 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



where this exists it utterly forbids the formation of 
confidence and high esteem. There is nothing in 
their makeup to enlist these qualities ; hence the 
need to observe and appreciate the best elements in 
character building. And for this^ actual experience 
in Christian principles is of vital importance. With- 
out this there can be no pure motives or fixed pur- 
pose in the foundations of a true life. There may- 
be in a measure^ but not in the highest sense. And 
who would not take his position with the noblest 
and best for the world^s blessing ? 

Character cannot well be built without a good 
foundation^ any more than a house or a railroad. 
How important^ then^ that the best elements for this 
be employed. And out of this will grow the 
chances for promotion. All men in the general 
line of w^orkmen desire this. If they have legiti- 
mate conduct and purpose they certainly have a 
right to it. But with promotion come influence 
and responsibility. All the different ranks of so- 
ciety must feel its powder in a greater or less degree. 
The network of railroads is much like a spider^s 
web. Every interest in the community is caught 
in one way or another in the threads. Hence it al- 
most invariably turns out that the chances for pro- 
motion hinge on the prominent marks of good char- 
acter. And I have found that while Christian char- 
acter is not always a test^ it is often honored and 
admired, and certainly is never an unfavorable ele- 
ment of character. I know that many men con- 



GENERAL WORKMEN ON RAILROADS 75 



nected with railway corporations in the shops, or in 
humble grades of service, often complain that the 
road to promotion is so long and hard that they are 
discouraged. What position of eminence and bless- 
ing in any of the ranks of life has ever been at- 
tained by other than a slow process and the most 
earnest perseverance ? None. It is said that dur- 
ing the last years of an eminent lawyer in New 
England, a sixteen-year-old boy heard him make a 
master plea in a town in New Hampshire, and he 
thought he would like to be an eminent lawyer. 
With this impression he left his plow, went to Bos- 
ton, and sought the noted jurist. Entering his office 
he made known his wish for an interview to learn 
how to acquire the desire of his heart. Rufus 
Choate handed him some books and directed him 
to be seated in a small room adjoining his office, 
and peruse them until he could give him attention. 
Eight long hours passed and he became weary of 
waiting and reading. At this juncture the coun- 
selor entered, when he inquired, "How long, sir, 
does it take in this way to learn to be a lawyer ? 
" It took me twenty-five years,^^ was the reply. 
" Well,^^ said the young man, " I guess I will go 
back and go to plowing." 

This showed his mettle. So it has been with 
many an aspirant for promotion in the ranks of all 
branches of labor and trade, the genius of inven- 
tion and mechanical art. They just come up to the 
threshold of the door of success and see that the 



76 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



price upon the article they want is high, and turn 
away. 

They cannot or will not stand the test of press- 
ing through difficulties. I never knew a good 
position that was worth getting and worth keeping 
that was cheaply bought, neither do I ever expect 
to. And every instance of experience or observa- 
tion of like character among railroad workmen has 
proved no exception to this rule. But there have 
been some grand instances where goodness and per- 
severance have been abundantly rewarded. I know 
of no reason why the chances of a workman in rail- 
way service of any character may not be as good for 
any office of trust among his fellow-men as in any 
other path of life. If this is true, it will lead you 
to see the possibilities for happiness and usefulness 
ichich are in pi^ospect Every man lives in pros- 
pect of something, and it is optional with him 
Avhether this shall be in the highest scale of hap- 
piness or not. To think that the highest type of 
happiness is not attainable by a railroad man is a 
mistake ; and to think that he has not before him 
the best opportunities for usefulness is equally so. 
Both are possible. These may not only be found 
in efforts for promotion higher and higher in posi- 
tion, but in the rich experience of his own heart. 
There is nothing that so contributes to reach the 
best possibilities of light as a right state of heart, 
and he who seeks this is sure to find it. The expe- 
rience of men and the word of the Lord show this. 



GENEEAL WORKMEN ON RAILROADS 77 



How I admire the character of those men of mark 
and blessing who, by hard toil and perseverance, 
fill positions of railroad makers, directors, and man- 
agers, and in those positions wield a salutary and 
forceful influence. But these possibilities are never 
reached without the adverse circumstances oi'' break- 
ers ahead ; there are lions in the way of success in 
this life as much as there were in the way of Bun- 
yan's Pilgrim in his march to the Celestial City ; 
these must be shunned or overcome. One man will 
say, '^I have not the talent to advance beyond the 
common ranks of labor.^' As long as he believes this 
he will make no progress. So with other things. 
Are you led to think you cannot go up higher? 
Remember others like you have done it, and you 
can. Are you discouraged ? Have courage. Are 
you tempted to drink liquor, or to any other disso- 
lute habit? Remember others have conquered be- 
fore you and become mighty victors in all that is 
good, and that you can do the same. Are you led to 
think that because you are a railroad man you can- 
not be a Christian and secure a home in heaven by 
the blood of Jesus? Remember there are to-day 
presidents, managers, superintendents, conductors, 
engineers, brakemen, and men in every department 
of railroad work who have overcome the like temp- 
tation and are walking in holiness. Are you suf- 
fering by accident or sickness ? Be not cast down, 
but remember that He who cares for the sparrow 
has relieved many a one before you in a way they 



78 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



least expected. Are you tormented with the fear 
that evil companions will lead you astray? Flee 
by faith and prayer to him who knows your heart 
and is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother/^ 
and he will shield you. Are you longing to attain 
the highest eminence of happiness and usefulness ? 
remember that you have every advantage in the 
resources before you to advance, step by step, until 
you reach the desired goal. 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE WIVES OF RAILROAD MEN 

IT is not my object to speak of them as essentially 
different from other women^ but I must note 
some experiences peculiar to them and to their 
position in life. The beauty of domestic affection 
is a marked feature in the varied walks of life ; 
there is nothing like it ; when properly regarded and 
rightly appreciated it is an untold and lasting bless- 
ing. Woman is endued with a power superior to 
that of men ; however much men may seek to con- 
trovert this, it is nevertheless true, and this power 
is felt in every circle of society. 

Of course the home is its center. The love, joy, 
wise counsels, and softening influence of a womanly 
character are to be prized above rubies. And the 
sweetness of disposition, the pleadings of prayer, the 
hallowed influence, and the beneficent smiles which 
come from a good wife and kind mother's heart, are 
exhibitions of character of infinite worth, which can 
never be obtained from any other source. Inde- 
scribable blessing ! And amid the peculiar circum- 
stances and surroundings of the wife of a railroad 
man there is a charming attractiveness in such fea- 
tures of character. In the make-up of such a char- 

79 



80 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



acter you must first observe her position of the highest 
moral enjoyment. Indeed^ no home is what it should 
be without this. A happy position does not spring 
out of the ground, nor rain down from above. It 
must be made, and that too, like a growing plant. 
No woman is born into a high position of happiness 
and usefulness. I care not how much money she 
has or inherits, this can never equip her with a fine 
disposition and womanly character. Even if she is 
endowed with many natural traits which are amiable, 
she must push the culture herself. How many women 
who from the cradle have lavished upon them all 
that money can buy, and yet have no apparent sense 
of what belongs to a good, happy, and useful wife ! 
And how many who are cradled in poverty's vale, 
but possess the requisite native talent, culture them- 
selves in all things needful for a home founded on 
divine principles ! Such a woman can adapt herself 
to any home, and make it capable of joy and 
blessing. 

And while I speak thus, let me here enforce the 
thought that while the world has witnessed many 
instances of excellent womanhood who have not, like 
the mother of Christ, or the other Marys of the Bible, 
aimed at proficiency in godliness, the world's history 
cannot produce a single character who has so honored 
and graced her home as the woman who has molded 
her life after the best type of Christian womanhood. 
I do not mean that of church professions and church 
standards, but the spirit of meekness and lowliness 



THE WIVES OF RAILROAD MEN 81 



which springs directly from humility in the heart, 
and faith in God. Such are found both in and out 
of the church. And how fitted is such a woman to 
meet the peculiar trials of the wife of a man in a 
railroad position. He may be a high officer, or one 
in the humbler spheres. 

And this leads me to say, your home may be pe- 
culiarly happy. Perhaps you will say circumstances 
and the nature of the case forbid. I think not. I 
am aware this is the idea of many, but it seems to 
me it is untrue. The Great Disposer of events has 
directed otherwise, and he has made it your privilege 
to have it otherwise if you so elect. I know full 
well that the cares of the home, the training of 
children, the absence of the husband much of the 
time, and the forebodings of sudden accidents, to- 
gether with many other things, contribute much to 
make the wives of these men feel that they have a pe- 
culiarly unhappy lot. Were our happiness a creature 
of circumstances I should surely concur in this. But 
it is not. Alas, for that short-sighted view of human 
life that finds happiness alone in the perishable 
things of earth ! There is a better way, and one far 
more satisfying. The very nature of our being com- 
pels acceptance of joy and blessing from a higher 
source. We can neither deny nor evade this. 
Doubt it as much as we may, it forces itself back 
upon us. Trials in this life often evince it. Ca- 
lamities are often sure to do so. Some time ago, 
while walking along a street in a Western town, 

F 



82 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



suddenly a doleful sound burst upon my ears, A 
husband and father had been run over by the cars 
while on duty. He was being borne to his home. 
The very air was resounding with his wails and 
prayers. His cry was^ " O God, have mercy on 
my soul.^^ Seeing the situation, I made quick steps 
to the house to prepare the loving wife soon to be 
widowed, and little children soon to be fatherless, 
for the distress so quickly to burst upon them. It 
was a dark hour, inexpressibly so. I entered the 
home. The wife and two children were in the room. 
My heart was pained for them. I kneeled, carried 
them to God in prayer. Never shall I forget the 
time when that wife and two darling ones bowed 
by my side. Soon those wails of a dying husband 
burst forth to fill with pangs the heart of a loving 
wife. She exclaimed, Only last night I was 
urging him to attend to his soul ! Sad were the 
scenes and heartrending the experience of that hour. 
He died. The next day I saw her at the station 
with her darling ones, and clothed in the deepest 
mourning, sitting by the coffin of her husband. 
Stricken, sad, and filled with anguish, she was to 
bear him away a hundred miles to his last resting- 
place. All who witnessed this scene could but say 
it was a dark hour indeed. But could there be 
no palliating thought or feeling? There could. I 
admit that such experiences are indescribably sad. 
But there is a record for the past, and a hope for the 
future available to every home, which may at least 



THE WIVES OF RAILROAD MEN 83 



shed rays of sunshine thereupon ; and the wife 
should lead the way in this precious experience. 
Let the home be cultured in grace and truth^ and 
untold happiness will be the result. I do not say it 
will be freed from trials ; no family is. But let 
there be a full consecration to all that is good and 
holy^ led by a loving wife^ and happiness untold 
will fill all hearts in spite of earthly troubles. Every 
trial will be sweetened with love divine, and the 
strongest hope will be bright for the future. I be- 
lieve such an experience for happiness is within the 
reach of every wife. Unheeded and neglected there 
will always be an unsatisfying experience. 

In this connection we see that in your position 
there is great responsibility. This cannot be other- 
wise. Every wife is possessed of responsibilities 
which are of infinite moment. It is a matter of 
great concern to know how a wife shall fill her po- 
sition. If it is conducted in the highest regard for 
that which is good, fruitful will be the results. If 
careless with regard to this, without appreciation of 
its moral needs, and a simple care for earthly things, 
there will be a lamentable state in life and in death. 
As a rule, the wife is responsible for the prosperity 
or adversity of her home more than is generally 
supposed. I would not belittle all that belongs to 
the husband or friends of the wife ; but ever since 
God declared, It is not good for man to be alone,^^ 
woman has had a commanding influence over him. 
The record of thousands of family ties shows this. 



84 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



Some time since I was returning home from relig- 
ious service at ten o^ clock at night. As I approached 
the gate, a gentleman stood leaning against a tree 
just opposite the gate. He said to me : " Can I see 
you, sir? Will you let me come to your room 
and you talk and pray with me? I heard your 
^ address to men only ^ this afternoon, and never so 
saw my condition before." I of course responded 
in the affirmative, glad to do so. We had the inter- 
view. It was a pleasure and a blessing. He had 
sinned against his God, himself, and his family. He 
said on parting, " Will you come and see my wife 
and children ? " I said, " I will." In the morning 
I called. A more interesting looking woman I have 
seldom seen. The two little children were beautiful. 
But what was the sad story? The husband was 
abusive, intemperate, and had been untrue. The 
wife was broken-hearted, and had her trunk packed 
to leave him and return to her childhood home. 
Mercy had come at just the needed hour to comfort 
her heart and save her wicked husband. He was a 
railroad engineer. The sun of true joy and happi- 
ness soon began to dawn upon that home. But the 
wife needed for the first time, as well as her husband, 
to learn the lessons of prayer and faith. 

She ought to have learned them long before. 
Had she done so it might have saved her much 
trouble. It is hard to shape a tree after it has 
grown. When it is young is the time. So it is 
with influence. There is always a time when if ap- 



THE WIVES OF RAILROAD MEN 85 

propriated, it will have an effective^ molding power. 
This is most especially true of a wife in her early- 
experience with her husband. Then is her peculiarly 
favorable time for character building. 

She has a Avomanly power, and this is the time to 
wield it. But what if this power be unsanctified ? 
What if it be simply worldly, without an experi- 
mental knowledge of the higher morality? She 
cannot and will not lead her husband as he needs 
and as she ought. Is it any marvel, then, if by and 
by he becomes reckless and dissolute ? This may 
sometimes be reasonably looked for in the nature of 
the case. What if the wife above alluded to, in such 
trouble because her husband was so abusive and dis- 
solute, had with all her womanly power and affection 
been consecrated to God, and in his visits, engage- 
ment, and marriage, gathered about him the voice 
of prayer and influence of holiness ? Mighty would 
have been the effect. It is scarcely possible for a 
man to resist such influence. There is an unseen 
godliness in it which is unexplainable, but cannot 
fail of its blessing. And if there is one thing more 
needed in railroad lines than another it is Christian 
wives. I do not mean to say that those are sinners 
above all others, but themselves, their husbands, and 
children, are so much in need of happiness and 
blessings which can be brought through this source 
that its imperativeness is forced upon one. Many 
know by experience what I mean. Many others 
may know. What more beautiful did or could the 



86 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



world ever witness than a devoted Christian wife 
and mother ! 

Had I the space I could array here a cloud of 
witnesses from railroad men with whom I have had 
many a precious interview within the last thirty 
years^ who have given testimony with tears and 
love to the gracious influence of godly mothers. 
Then let me add^ in closing this short chapter, one 
of the most pleasing and weighty features of this 
influence is vocal prayer with the husband. The 
human voice is a power, and it can never be more so 
than used in this way by the pleadings of a conse- 
crated woman's heart and voice. 



CHAPTER Xiy 



THE CHILDKEN OF KAILROAD MEN 

MY object in treating on this subject is to con- 
sider the peculiar nature of their position. 
Many railroad men would be glad to do more for 
the children God has given them in discipline and 
culture, but absence from home much of the time 
forbids. Others must help. No person with knowl- 
edge, philanthropy, and the common interests of 
society at heart can fail to observe the needs of 
these children. We must consider them in their 
spiritual relation and position. Such relations exist 
with youth as they enter the arena of life. It is 
unavoidably so. The children of farmers, bankers, 
merchants, editors, educators, manufacturers, minis- 
ters, and others are always regarded in the light of 
their respective relation and parentage. There may 
be instances of exception to this, but they are rare. 

Hence, this being true, I wish to say a few things 
to excite interest in behalf of the children of rail- 
road men. They need attention, and are worthy. 
The something alluded to in former chapters urges 
this. The fact that these men in not a few instances 
so incline to exclude themselves from society and 
the force of their circumstances sometimes encour- 

87 



88 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



aging this^ makes it all the more imperative. So I 
feel it both a duty and a privilege to help them if 
possible. 

The nature of the claim adds greatly to its im- 
portance. In this^ however^ it is not so much in 
their peculiar relation as the intrinsic worth of these 
children^ both moral and social. If spared in life 
they must inevitably fill some place in society and 
in some form of labor^ profession or business. How 
important then that some one interest himself in 
their behalf. True, the parents have a duty to 
perform. They ought to attend to their education^ 
both moral and mental. Some have already done 
so in a very efficient manner. Others are now 
vigorously prosecuting this work. But there is 
much depending in the proficiency of the w^ork upon 
the vigorous and general interest felt in the matter. 
I call to mind many special effi^rts that have in one 
way or another been made in behalf of the children 
of every class of citizens but this class^ and not one 
for this. I do not urge that special institutions be 
built^ but that marked attention be given^ and that 
their interest be more earnestly advocated. Why 
should it not be so ? Surely there is as much need 
of moral worth and talent among these children as 
any other. If this is true^ then should they not 
have as much attention as any other? I know that 
very many well-disposed persons will concur with 
this thought, but are we giving them our sympathies^ 
prayers, and influence as we ought ? I have met in 



THE CHILDREN OF RAILROAD MEN 89 

my travels of many years^ very many sons and 
daughters of farmers^ merchants, professional men, 
and private citizens who were enjoying the privileges 
and benefits of a higher education, but have only 
occasionally met representatives of railroad families. 

I do not wish to imply by this that these children 
differ from others. They are kindred in disposition 
and talent to those of other classes. This is self- 
evident. All the impulses of human nature that 
characterize others are fully developed in them. In 
brain and muscle they will compare well with others. 
And in the noble impulses of human sympathy, 
with rare exceptions I have sometimes thought they 
excelled. The make-up of their character for good- 
ness in the essential qualifications for virtuous citi- 
zenship is quite as favorable as the average. 

As far as they have availed themselves of the 
opportunities of improvement they furnish no dis- 
couragement to making the very highest attainments 
in life. Acquaintance with large numbers of these 
youth has proven to me that they are as susceptible 
of moral impressions and benefits as any other class 
of society. In all these respects, and many more, 
there is no reason why they should isolate them- 
selves or be isolated by others from the best gifts 
and the best advantages of society. To take heart 
is the need of the hour with all our young men and 
women. There are fine opportunities and advan- 
tages enough to qualify them for the best positions 
in life. How grand then, for all the youth of the 



90 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



families of railroad men to avail themselves of these. 
And for the little children of these families, the 
parents need to grasp the situation and lead them 
up to it. Many a parent is remiss just here. They 
act too much like a man who has with much labor 
and pains prepared and sowed his garden, but just 
as soon as the seeds germinate and vegetation begins, 
by simple neglect the weeds spring up and grow 
until all the vegetation is choked and dwarfed. So 
with these tender minds. Too young to apprehend 
their needs, conditions, or opportunities, the parents 
fail to do it for them, and they are often cheated out 
of immense blessings. 

These things being true, it will at once be ap- 
parent that their worldly and moral needs are vei^y 
great. An earnest consideration of the necessity of 
getting ready for the emergencies of this life is 
shared by all classes in a greater or less degree. 
Many remember their immortal nature and prepare 
for the future life. Many do not. Few, indeed, 
are the persons who attain to a high degree of pros- 
perity in this life, and also to the high moral state 
essential for the world to come, whose culture in the 
right direction is neglected in childhood. It may 
be said that many of our best and most influential 
men and women come up from families of the most 
humble and limited opportunities of life. This is 
true. But let it be remembered, that wath rare ex- 
ceptional cases, these have had the training of a 
godly parentage, to be prized more than culture or 



THE CHILDREN OF RAILROAD MEN 91 

wealth. Occasionally you will find a man with a 
position of the very best of moral culture and 
intellectual influence, who began in life with an 
utter lack of good advantages. But these cases are 
infrequent. 

Too much cannot be thought or said of the great 
worth of good home influences in character building. 
This is vital. 

Then with these demands of the children of 
railroad men, how can we supply their moral and 
secular needs f By careful and strict attention to 
advantages already at hand. In the earliest stage 
of youthful development there should be the strictest 
observance of instruction in the word of God. It 
is true, Sunday-schools and church influences are a 
great help in this work, but nothing can supersede 
the duties of parents at home, and especially those 
of the mother. Her influence is imperative. And 
where it is wisely exerted no pen can describe its 
value; when neglected, its loss can never be told. 
The record of the past in this land and other lands 
fully attests this. Whatever of infidel denial there 
may be of its truth or force, still the fact remains 
unbroken and undisguised. Then let the mothers 
lay this sure foundation with their children, and 
whatever may be neglected of other things, never 
forget this element for laying a good foundation 
against the time to come. 

And then hurtful examples and habits must be 
avoided. No child will be likely to accumulate 



92 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



moral or physical strength while oppressed with 
iramoral examples and dissolute habits. If you 
would have your children grow up in strong man- 
hood and womanhood, give them careful culture in 
good habits. To this end their associations should 
be wisely guarded. There are more boys and girls 
dwarfed by evil associations than in almost any 
other way. Evil companions often fill the mind of 
a child with vile and hurtful thoughts and desires, 
when they should be shunned, and wholesome cul- 
ture received. Too much care cannot be taken in 
this, in these days of bad literature, which by de- 
signing men and women is flying through the land 
like snowflakes. 



RAILWAY ILLUSTRATIONS 



CHAPTER I 



THE RAILWAY TRACK 

EVERYTHING in nature has its illustrative 
qualities. So in the moral world. The pro- 
ductions of men of mark and power are character- 
ized by strong figures. Character building is repre- 
sented in its strongest light in illustrated thought. 
The Saviour of the world, the greatest teacher of 
manlcind, taught in parables, and these parables 
were of the most striking and potent character. 
When he was about to set forth some great truth or 
doctrine, he would select an object near at hand, so 
natural, so simple, that the person or persons, class 
or classes addressed, could not fail to understand. 
He would often select a stone, a river, a fish, a bird, 
a storm, a worm, a broad and narrow way, with 
others great in number and character. In this way 
he made known to the world great truths and 
principles that can never die. 

Perhaps not with the same power or to the same 
extent can we use illustrations and parables to set 
forth truths, but we can do much to perpetuate his 
example. The railway track has its fruitful sug- 
gestions for our profit. Surely railway men them- 
selves may well profit by its suggestive lessons. 

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96 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



The foundation of a good road is built with care. 
No corporation would allow the road-bed to be care- 
lessly made. Where there is a soft, marshy spot 
there must be stones and gravel carted in, and every 
place must be thoroughly laid with a firm founda- 
tion. Where there are hills or places a little ele- 
vated they must be cut down or smoothed. Some- 
times mountains have to be tunneled, and not unfre- 
quently huge ledges of rock have to be drilled and 
blown to pieces in order to get a good foundation 
for the track. So it is with human character It 
is folly to tliink a man can have a character, with 
development and blessing, without a foundation. 
And to have this he must, with care and much 
labor, make the foundation. He will find w^eak 
points to strengthen. And like bringing in stones 
and earth to the marshy places in the road, he must 
bring in knowledge and form purposes and habits 
of moral power. There will also be traits of char- 
acter like the hills and elevated places that he will 
have to cut down and smooth with care and culture. 
And everybody knows that human character is often 
well-nigh crushed by the mountains of bad habits. 
These will never be removed easily. They can only 
be removed by severe drilling and blasting. This 
may be a long and tedious task. Some men think 
they cannot overcome bad habits. This is pecu- 
liarly true of some railroad men. But if the rail- 
road corporations in this land and other lands that 
have surmounted marvelous obstacles to make roads. 



THE RAILWAY TRACK 



97 



had pursued the same course, they would have failed. 
They did not. And what exhibitions of victory do 
we see to-day. Neither is there a feature of human 
character so bad that it cannot, with God's help, 
make a good foundation. Let railroad men learn 
the lesson of the road over which they pass. 

The ties suggest also an illustrative lesson for 
heart and life culture. True, they are laid upon the 
stone or gravel foundation, but they are the binding 
part that really holds all other parts together. They 
are numerous, and lie near together. In our lives 
when the foundation of character is laid, our little 
and numerous acts, words, and purposes, have much 
to do with our successful living. They bind us to 
grand objects and pursuits when rightly laid, and if 
not well laid, our whole career is undermined. 

So, also, we find the rails have their place to en- 
force suggestive impressions. It would be impos- 
sible to carry on railroad enterprises without these. 
They must have a solid element in their composi- 
tion, not easily moved. To be of good service they 
must be straight. They must also be strongly fas- 
tened to a good foundation, and if loosened from this, 
great danger is threatened. This is analogous to 
life. No man lives without in some way or other 
having his lines of actions drawn. And to be of 
valuable service these must be laid upon a good 
foundation. Without this they are of little benefit 
to the man or the world. If well laid they will 
form a track that will bear the pilgrim up the road 

G 



98 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



of blessing. And in these days of crookedness in 
the characters of men^ let every man learn the lesson 
that^ like the rails upon the railroad^ unless he is 
straight his service is no good. The world has no 
use for crookedness. How significantly also is the 
fact applicable to human character that^ like the 
rails, there must be a solid fastening before our 
moral characters can stand amid the stress of time. 
When a man is loosened in principle and practice 
from the strictest adherence to a good life, he is in 
danger of becoming a wreck. If the rail is loosened 
it may throw the train from the track, and bring 
destruction to many. No man can be careless about 
a moral foundation, and avoid this danger. 

The Gwves upon the track are very illustrative 
of life. Such there are. But always they are care- 
fully adjusted to a balancing of the trains while 
they pass these points. Every person has curves 
in his life. And the thing for him to do is to 
adjust these to such a development as will turn 
each point safely, and for the greatest amount of 
benefit. There are times when there comes a sud- 
den turn in a man's life which may be a serious 
matter if he is not prepared for it. This is often 
the case in business, sometimes in professional life, 
and not unfrequently in some important moral 
bearing. The curves upon the railway track are 
not all with which railroad men have to do. Temp- 
tations often assail them when they least expect it. 
They must be prepared to go around such a curve 



THE RAILWAY TRACK 



99 



or be suddenly thrown from the track. Readiness 
to pass it with care will take them on their journey 
safely. Unbelief in the doctrines of Christianity 
has been often proven to be like a curve in a rail- 
way track^ and to none more than to railroad men 
themselves. The experience of centuries has tested 
again and again the happy and safe assurances of 
the religion of Jesus. Many a person when round- 
ing the curves of life has found them just the thing 
the soul needed. But thousands who have rejected 
them, when suddenly called to pass the curves of 
accident, trouble, and death, have found something 
wanting and themselves disappointed. 

And it must not be overlooked in this illustration 
that the purpose of the railimy is for journeying. 
So is our being in life. Transportation is the first 
conception of a railroad. The operators and pas- 
sengers alike must pass over it. It has no other 
purpose. All the conceptions of our being are 
centered in this thought. The machinery of our 
physical natures fully attests the idea of progress. 
But this is limited. The body will travel on for a 
time and then its existence end. It cannot, like 
the railroad, be repaired perpetually. This may be 
for a time and then the body and journeying must 
cease. But there is within us a soul that will pur- 
sue its onward course. Like the railway, its office 
work is to assist travel. Transportation is the object 
of its being. It must go on in the very nature of 
the case. It will ever be freighted with the good 

tOFC 



100 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



or the bad. It cannot live without a cargo, and 
that cargo cannot lie in the station house very long. 
It must move on. The soul must develop in good 
or evil. Like the railroad, onward progress is its 
very existence. How important then that every man 
should see to it that his soul is cultured in good, and 
that he is journeying in the right direction. 

Furthermore, it is a significant fact that all rail- 
roads terminate somewhere. This is emphatically 
true. Consequently, how important that each pas- 
senger be careful to be upon the right train, and 
that all cargoes be freighted in the right direction. 
If this point is not rightly guarded and adjusted, 
how much trouble and inconvenience, and, not un- 
frequently loss, is experienced. No man can afford 
to step up to the ticket office and say, I want a 
ticket ; it is no matter which way I go, it will be 
just as well, I shall be sure to reach the desired 
point.^^ Neither will he do this if he is wise. Every 
railroad goes to the north, the south, the east, or the 
west in every country. Moreover, every line leads 
to New York, or Philadelphia, or Chicago, or Boston, 
or St. Paul, or San Francisco, or St. Louis, or some 
smaller city or town. And it would be folly for a 
man to take passage to the east and say he was go- 
ing west, or toward Chicago and say he was going 
to New York. Precisely so it is in our moral life. 
We are traveling on a journey upon a road that has 
a terminus as surely and really as does any railroad 
in our land. And as surely as the railroad upon 



THE RAILWAY TRACK 



101 



which we travel carries us to some destination, so 
will the life road, good or bad, which we travel in 
this world land us, in happiness or woe, in eternity. 
We cannot escape this. And if you take a ticket 
that leads to perdition, what reason have you to ex- 
pect you will arrive in heaven, any more than that 
if you take a ticket to New York you will arrive in 
Chicago ? Or if you take a ticket to heaven by re- 
pentance and faith in the blood of Jesus, and a holy 
life, what reason have you to think you will arrive 
in the dark world of the lost? When all the rail- 
road work and travel is over with you, as it will be 
very soon, you must arrive somewhere. Where 
shall it be ? Do not be careless about which road 
or train you shall take for your eternal destiny. 
Take the right way for your soul, and then will you 
be safe and useful in this world and eternally happy 
in the world to come. 



CHAPTER II 



THE RAILWAY ENGINE 



lERHAPS there is no part of railway appliances 



J- more prominent than the engine. This is 
made of varied machinery. It has many parts, 
large and small. The boiler and pipes, together 
with furnace, smoke-stack, wheels (large and small), 
rods, levers, bars, bolts, and boxes are all impera- 
tive to its use. Thus you see man in the journey 
of life. Whatever there may or may not be of his 
strength and offices, moral or immoral, he is made 
up of wonderful machinery. Bone, muscle, brain, 
sinew, artery, ligament, and vein are interwoven 
into one body to make up a human machine that 
girts the globe and controls the handiwork of God. 

As the management of any and all railways is 
vitally dependent upon the engine for success and 
progress, so man is dependent upon the healthy 
machinery of the body for the progress of human 
inventions and powers. And if his parts of bodily 
strength are all right and rightly employed, it is a 
long step in the direction of a right state of heart 
and right action for this world and the world to 
come. 

Furthermore^ for effective use every part of the 




102 



THE RAILWAY ENGINE 



103 



engine must be in its pi^oper place, No engineer 
would think of taking his engine out to serve him 
upon the track and be careless about whether all 
parts of the machinery Avere in their place. He 
would have a careful examination of all the joints 
and pipes^ the wheels^ shafts^ and all the machinery 
in detail. He would see that these are right before 
he would move forward. Indeed^ the nature of the 
case shows clearly that an engine is not fit to use 
unless these are right. Besides this^ while it may 
not be absolutely essential^ he is often careful as to 
the outside appearance of the machine. 

Now, while man is not an inanimate machine, 
he is a human machine, and one in which there is 
life immortal and eternal. And to be fit for effectual 
service in this world and answer the end of his 
immortality in the world to come, the divine Master 
has been very careful to see about having every 
part of his being in its place. AVise direction is not 
only given, but also earnest warnings against error 
and wrong in sentiment, principle, and action. No 
man can be careless in this matter and expect to 
prosper in his physical being, his soul, his home, 
and in the world. It cannot be. Man^s experience 
in the world has over and over again proven any 
other than this to be false. And this practical les- 
son railroad men should not be slow to learn. 

And then it is clearly evident that the engine is 
capable of immense power. Perhaps there is no 
feature about it more apparent than this. Rightly 



104 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



used, what blessings it entails upon its course ? I 
think I may truthfully say no material machine has 
ever exerted such power. No marvel that man 
and beast everywhere stand in awe of its presence 
and force. When ready for action and started on 
its course its capabilities are almost beyond human 
conception. So with man. His powers are mighty. 
Vast, indeed, are his capabilities of mind and body. 
It is but a just conclusion that the extent of man^s 
capabilities has never been reached except it be by 
the great Creator. 

Every age is witnessing the development of his 
powers. In the researches of truth, both moral 
and secular, scientific and lettered, it seems as if 
there were no end to the expanse of the human 
mind. Then how important that every mind should 
be in the right sphere of knowledge and usefulness. 
Everybody knows that God and the best of men in 
all ages have thought it reasonable to require that 
everywhere man in this function of his being should 
be careful to be right in what he is and what he 
may be. In these great powers of body, mind, and 
spirit government is made legislative ; educational 
and religious associations are formed. Land and 
sea, wind and wave alike are put under contribu- 
tion to serve and bless mankind. It is marvelous 
to see the powers which man possesses and appro- 
priates along the track of human life. The gigantic 
powers of man in motion are like the mighty powers 
of the engine in motion. The great powers of man. 



THE RAILWAY ENGINE 



105 



quiet and asleep^ are like those of the engine when 
passive and motionless. The strength of either can 
scarcely be measured. 

And all this is propelled by hidden potvers. 
Without this the engine would be useless. The 
steam inside is the source of living action. There 
can be none without it. Fire must be kindled, 
water put into the boiler, and steam generated before 
the varied parts can properly move and render the 
machine serviceable. But when all the parts are 
rightly adjusted the steam can be prepared and 
applied, and, though it is hidden from sight, the 
machine is put in motion and draws after it a load 
of vast value and weight. But the man who sets it 
in motion and directs its course is likewise under 
the force of hidden power. All his bone and muscle 
would be of no avail were it not for the hidden re- 
sources of power. 

This is the nature of physical life and strength. 
The moral powers do not essentially differ in this 
respect. As the steam chest holds the strength of 
the engine, so the heart holds the moral power of 
man. Can I then call attention too strongly to this 
fact when destinies of such vast moment depend 
upon this power? The heart should be right. And 
every railroad man as well as others should see to 
it that his heart is right in the sight of God and 
man. No man can live as he ought without a right 
heart. Language fails to tell the nature and ten- 
dency of this hidden power in man. It is through 



106 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



this^ and this alone^ that God can dominate the lives 
of men. There is no other avenue through ^Yhich 
he can work. Here lie his purposes^ motives^ and 
inclinations for good. And unless this power is 
right in its nature and rightly appreciated^ it is im- 
possible for man to wisely employ his strength ; as 
impossible as it would be for an engine to be rightly 
employed if the steam were not generated and wisely 
applied. 

When the inner power of the engine is unre- 
strained and misdirected it is dangerous and often 
does great injury. So does man. Did you ever 
see an unchecked engine darting on with uncon- 
trolled speed ? I have. What threatenings and 
what terror seized the heart of every witness. 
When times of danger come and the steam cannot 
be controlled^ how fearful are the results. Even 
man himself^ with all his powers of body and mind^ 
often fails in such a time to subdue and guide the 
engine and avoid the catastrophe. And if this is 
true of such an inanimate machine^ what can we 
conclude of the engineer and of all other men if 
their hearts with all their inner power — God-given 
and mighty — shall be wrong and unrestrained? 
Small as is the calculation put upon this by many 
persons, it is simply indescribable. 

From whence come all the experiences of good 
and blessing scattered along our pathway to well- 
nigh dazzle our eyes and move every impulse of 
our being with joy ? From a right state of heart, 



THE RAILWAY ENGINE 



107 



every avenue of which is animated by purposes and 
motives true and good. Why do we hear day by 
day the very air resound with sighs and groans of 
distress from almost every rank of society ? Often, 
very often, the dissolute habits and angry passions 
of depraved hearts can answer the question. The 
heart is wrong. The inner powers of the moral 
nature, all on fire with unbridled passion, are let 
loose. Like the unrestrained engine with hissing 
steam dashing on to destruction, their self-destruction 
is almost certain. Intemperance, swearing, lying, 
and many other sins, may look small and of little 
account. So does the mustard seed. So does the 
acorn. But drop them into the ground even care- 
lessly and we know the result. 

There is not a drunkard in the dark world to-day 
who did not at some time consent, moved by some 
untoward influence, to take the first glass. So with 
many other destructive evils. They had their small 
beginning, and, like that engine, once started slowly, 
but now dashing on with unchecked speed, destroy- 
ing everything in its way, so they start slowly, but 
by habit and delusion sweep on to destruction. 

But on the other handy when the hidden power 
is rightly used^ its service is of great value. This 
is evident to every one and on every hand. The 
value of the iron horse is untold. Every house- 
hold shares in its benefits. By it social joys are 
gratified and enhanced, religious work and expe- 
rience are increased and advanced, commercial in- 



108 



THAT EAILROAD MAN 



terchange is carried on^ and every avenue of society- 
is made to feel its forceful benefit. So with the 
soul-powers of man when the heart is fired with 
right determination. Who can estimate these ? The 
very life is redolent with blessings therefrom. It 
cannot be otherwise. Our Creator has so endowed 
the heart with powers of vast magnitude in virtue 
if man will but hold and employ them for the high- 
est purpose. This he may do. Everywhere the 
works of reform should feel the pulse of his hidden 
power. 

As you see the engine in its onward progress 
with passengers^ express and postal car bearing 
treasures of immense value^ or the long freight 
train with almost priceless lading, who can estimate 
the end of such movements and enterprise ? What 
shall we then say of railway presidents, managers, 
superintendents, conductors, engineers, or any other 
in the ranks of railway men and their families, or 
in any or all other ranks of men, if they but have 
every moral purpose and impulse of their nature 
enlisted for the best good of themselves and others ? 
If this is of such momentous importance and benefit 
in any phase of its experience, what untold value 
might not be put upon the best and highest moral 
attainments ? It certainly would be above rubies. 

Then, as all things in the material and moral 
world may be your teacher, will not every reader 
gather from this illustration lessons for a large soul- 
blessing ? 



CHAPTER III 



THE RAILWAY PASSENGER CAR 

THIS is illustrative of many things which should 
interest and profit you. 
It is for the use of the most loorthful of all living 
beings. The legitimate idea of a passenger railway 
car is for the conveyance of immortal man, not of 
beasts or material things. It is man who is to 
travel in this carriage. True, we are living in an 
age when great estimate is put upon beast and com- 
modity, and in some instances special cars are fitted 
up for them ; but the passenger car is ever kept and 
appropriated to carry men. This is the one object. 
Now it must be evident to every thoughtful person 
that this is strangely illustrative of man's being. The 
human body and mind were never made for other 
purpose than to bear about the most valuable of all 
things. The Creator never designed the human 
body to be prostituted to low and base habits and 
beastly practices. Like the soul that dwells in it^ 
it was to be neat, attractive, and ever illustrative of 
the brightest principles of thought and action. 

Why is it that railway corporations studiously 
seek to keep the passenger cars neat and convenient 
and attractive, and if, like the smoking car, there is 

109 



110 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



a demand for filth and uncleanness, a second-rate 
coach is provided ? There is something significant 
in this. It is an instinctive craving with man that 
every higher principle of his nature wants and de- 
mands a suitable provision for that want. So in all 
the demands of the soul ; while the baser and earthly 
passions cry out for lower associations. Who would 
not ride in the passenger car of the highest order? 
Who would not seek and find the best associations 
for comfort and satisfaction in the journeyings of this 
world and the destinies of another ? Why pass into 
the smoking car to travel amid the filth and nastiness 
and degrading influences of the baser sort? I con- 
fess I have been amazed when I have passed through 
the smoking car, and had to hold my breath for the 
stench of uncleanness, to see gentlemen of a high 
order of culture and refinement at home and in 
other circles, enduring an hour in such a place for 
that which could give them no solid or lasting benefit, 
but, on the other hand, must give only influences 
and surroundings which debase rather than elevate. 
Yea, it has often been a marvel to me that any per- 
sons, even the most abandoned, with such enlighten- 
ing influences around them, could bear to ride hour 
after hour in such places, and that too, when so 
much better accommodations have been provided 
and are close at hand. This is indeed a picture of 
human life. Sometimes I think it is nothing strange 
that amid the varied presentations of religious faith 
so many blinded by sin cannot see the beauties of 



THE RAILWAY PASSENGER CAR 111 

holiness. But in the above ilhistrative picture 
which I have drawn, none can fail to see the dis- 
tinction between debasing position and influences, 
and those of the better sort, calling upon all with 
the most attractive invitations to accept a seat in 
the better car. 

But this is a matter of small importance in com- 
parison to the interests and experiences which relate 
to our souls. The body is the passenger car, and 
the soul is the passenger. You cannot travel about 
this earth unless you carry your soul with you in a 
journey toward a marked destination. But in God's 
arrangement for travel not one thing is left without 
its attractiveness. 

The passenger car is arranged very beautifully. 
So is your being. If the time ever was when the 
railway coaches were coarse and unattractive, that 
time has passed by. Now great pains are taken to 
make them inviting. Paints and polish adorn their 
every part. Within and without they are beautiful 
and convenient. The sides and ends, the doors, 
panels, and mountings, the seats, windows, and 
racks, and even small racks with Bibles in some 
of them, are all finely arranged for beauty and use- 
fulness. And furthermore, in this age of culture 
and beauty, if any other kind of a rougher type were 
placed at the disposal of the people for travel, it 
would be scorned by them. They would not use 
them for travel. There would at once be a rebellion 
and protest in every community. But this is only 



112 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



a temporal matter for a brief period. Yet here are 
the very presidents, managers, conductors, engineers, 
and brakemen of the corporations that provide them, 
yea, the passengers that ride in these fine cars, often 
found with the greatest indifference and carelessness 
about the vehicle for their souls. Little or no care 
for culture, habits of profanity. Sabbath-breaking, 
neglect of sacred things, intemperance, obscene lan- 
guage, and almost every practice and belief of a 
weakening, tarnishing, and hurtful character. And 
all this while in their inmost recesses the soul and 
the moral nature are crying out for care and atten- 
tion. God from the earliest ages, w^hen man aposta- 
tized and began to run on this downward road, has 
provided the most ample means for his improvement 
and help. 

There were never better advantages for man^s 
elevation and true happiness than now. There have 
always been vehicles for his body, but these have 
been improved until w^e have these fine passenger 
cars and means for its locomotion. So the body 
has always been a vehicle for the soul ; but for the 
care and culture of the body, that it may be a fit 
conveyance for a priceless soul, there has never been 
such immense advantages as there are to-day. Books 
and papers of every conceivable kind for good, home 
circles for training, schools of learning, private and 
public, large and small, good men and women in- 
numerable, to point every soul in every community 
into the better way, reformatory influences and socie- 



THE RAILWAY PASSENGER CAR 113 

ties so numerous that the very air in every State, 
city, and town is freighted with calls to reform. 
But in spite of all this, many railroad men, yea, 
men of all classes, persist in breeding beastliness to 
their bodies and damnation to their souls. They 
seem to have a preference for the cattle car upon 
the freight train, rather than to ride in the quiet 
and cleanliness of the passenger car. Why is this ? 
There is really no good reason. Do you tell me 
vicious and wicked temptations overcome you? 
This is no apology. True, in view of the deter- 
mined course in sin of many around you, there may 
appear to be an apology. But there is none. You 
are not compelled to swear. You are not compelled 
to drink intoxicating liquors. You are not com- 
pelled to yield to the debasing influences of evil 
habits about you. You are not compelled to lead 
a life in disregard of God and prayer. No, no ! 
These are matters of choice and determination. 
There is not one good thing you need to place you 
in the way to the highest ranks of blessing for this 
world and that also of another, but is within your 
reach, and you alone must decide the choice. 

You will also often find the pas^m^^er car swift 
in motion. It is likewise so with the body. The 
soul also often moves with the swiftest velocity. 
None understand this matter of speed better than 
railroad managers and operators themselves. Fast 
travel has come to be one of the features of the age. 
And it is a generally conceded fact that passenger 



114 



THAT EAILKOAD MAX 



cars^ from the nature of the case^ must run much 
faster than freight cars. Why is this ? One prom- 
inent reason is that man must go faster than beast 
or material things. This is his very nature. Hence 
this invention of rapid car conveyance has been 
made to meet his wants. He pushes on in life so 
that when the years have rolled away he can hardly 
believe they are gone. The body comes to an end^ 
but the soul^ freighted with thought and knowledge^ 
still wants a vehicle for its conveyance. This must 
have rapid motion to meet its demands. Such is 
its nature. 

One thing more I wish to mention here: The 

jxtssenger car is largely advertised as to conveniences^ 
time, and destination. The railway corporations are 
wise in sending out agents to advertise and induce 
passengers to take passage on their lines and go to 
their destination on them. This is laudable and 
wise. It serves the corporations and the passengers 
alike. It enriches the railway company and ac- 
commodates the passenger. So with man and his 
Creator. ]\Ian has needs and wants of a moral 
character for this world and another. God has pro- 
vided lines of thought and action for these^ and has 
placed the directions and conditions in a great guide- 
book, and sent forth his agents to advertise the way 
and induce all passengers possible to take passage 
on his line of holiness. If followed, it will take 
you to heaven. Like the travel on the railway, you 
may persist in taking the wrong way if you wish^ 



THE RAILWAY PASSENGER CAR 115 

and miss your desired destination. Sometimes in 
willful carelessness passengers persist in taking the 
car or train different from that which has been ad- 
vertised and fail of their desired end. So you may 
blind your eyes to the directions that God has given 
by his faithful servants and lose heaven. Beware ! 



CHAPTER IV 



THE RAILWAY DINING CAR 

THERE is an old adage which says, Necessity 
is the mother of invention/^ This has been 
true in every feature of the railway enterprise, and 
doubtless in nothing more than in the creation of the 
dining car to meet the necessities of the traveling 
public. It is an imperative necessity that food 
should be provided for travelers, in one form or 
another. They must eat. 

In this ive see the need there is for the accommo- 
dation of such a car. To supply this need is one 
of the very first considerations in the calculations of 
men. Whether at home or abroad, in the hurry of 
business or the quiet of rest, traveling or waiting, 
he must provide for eating to satisfy his physical 
wants. Hence, one of the first things to provide 
for the accommodation of the traveling public by a 
railway corporation is conveniences for obtaining 
food. But how suggestive is this necessity of need- 
ful food for the mind. Men everywhere must have 
mental and moral sustenance. They cannot live 
without it. Provision must be made for this. 
Good or bad it will be made. In a convenient or 
inconvenient manner it will be found. And there 
116 



THE RAILWAY DINING CAR 117 



will always be found plenty of waiters to serve the 
tables too. Men and women who delight to feed 
the mind and soul with wholesome and profitable 
food are found in all places and in every land. 
They have the heart and brain to do it. It is their 
joy day and night. Would that none other than 
good food and servants could be found. But there 
can be. The broad way is open as well as the nar- 
row^ and trains are dashing on, crowded with 
human beings, hungry for food, and large numbers 
are on hand to deal out food for their supply that is 
anything but wholesome. The dens of vice, the vile 
literature and unhallowed influence at home and 
abroad, everywhere attest this fact. These are like 
the carrion upon which the buzzard fattens. This 
contrast is seen in the varieties of the dining car. 
Roasts, fowl, vegetables, and varied pastry, together 
with tea, coffee, and milk, are provided to satisfy 
the hunger of the traveler. These are good kinds 
of food. They promote physical health. But 
there may be other kinds that are bad. Beer, wine, 
and stronger intoxicants may be served. These in- 
jure and are often temptations leading to ruin. 
They are unnecessary and weaken the mental and 
physical nature and tend to disaster and sorrow. So 
it is in the journey of life. Every man is traveling 
to a future destiny. His mind is active. It is 
spending strength continually. The soul expands 
day by day, sending forth a good or bad influence. 
Its strength being spent in a good or bad direction, 



118 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



recuperation must be had from some source. The 
table for mind food is spread. The supplies 
are brought on^ and ample provision is made to 
meet the necessities of men. 

And just hei^e you understand the object of the 
dining car. Why its distinctive difference from a 
freight or passenger car? This is easily seen. It 
has but one object^ and that to give food to the pas- 
sengers. Other conveniences and accommodations 
may surround them, but this is the one work of the 
dining car. So along the journey of life there may 
be many objects in the natural and moral world 
that feed the mind, but lettered knowledge is espe- 
cially provided for this object. The Bible, history, 
biography, and current news are afforded to every 
one. Would that the supply stopped here. But 
like the dining car after serving the good healthful 
food, peradventure it provides and serves the wine, 
ale, and other liquors, so all along our journey of 
life the vitiating trash of bad literature is given, 
bad novels, ill-conceived and worse -executed books, 
romantic stories with bad morals to poison the minds 
of parents and children and fill our homes with per- 
nicious influences and desolating, vile associations to 
lead astray our youth. But this is the dark side. 
There is a brighter and better. And while I would 
not consider the evil wrought upon the dark side by 
the sad influence of bad books as incidental, I 
would be grateful that so many of our sons and 
daughters are longing after knowledge that will ele- 



THE RAILWAY DINING CAR 



119 



vate and mold character to the very highest happi- 
ness. And while our railroad population is becom- 
ing so large^ and its influence so great^ there is great 
need that its mind culture be of the best. 

Good books^ papers, magazines, and literature of 
the most pure kind and in abundant supplies should 
be provided for them. Too much cannot be done 
in this direction. Their shops and homes should 
be supplied, and along the lines of travel they 
should be urged to avail themselves of the best re- 
sources of mind and soul culture. Never was there 
so much done as is being done to-day in this grand 
and noble work. The necessity and demand are 
upon us, and they are being met on every hand. 
How signally in all the ages has God raised up 
means and men to meet the emergency of every 
class and time ! There is not a want of the soul but 
that supply for it has been offered. So now as the 
army of railroad men has grown to such dimensions, 
knowledge and good influences are at hand if they 
but avail themselves of them. There are now 
about one hundred and fifty reading rooms arranged 
and provided in the larger cities of our land by the 
Young Men^s Christian Associations, and mainly 
supported by the railway corporations themselves, 
in order to furnish the men with the best advantages 
of mental culture. Many enjoy them and are being 
greatly benefited thereby. 

As a rule it is generally understood that the food 
of the dining car is of a superior hind. Those who 



120 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



dine here expect this. They are seldom disap- 
pointed in their expectation. They are well sup- 
plied, and go away feeling that they have had a 
good meal. And when they partake of the health- 
ful kinds of food provided^ it is a satisfactory service. 
So in life's journey ; whoever heard of a man who 
had feasted his mind upon substantial knowledge 
being dissatisfied ? It is not in the nature of the 
case. Good reading, Jesus the bread of life for the 
soul, good culture for the mind, good habits, good 
associations and good deportment of life, always ele- 
vate character and bring happy reflections. No 
baneful memories or influences ever follow these. I 
urge then that every railway man who considers 
these suggestive thoughts to feast his mind upon 
that which satisfies. You could not do a better 
thing to bring present and personal happiness, and 
reap a rich reward in the days to come. 

Another lesson here suggested and enforced is that 
passengers can eat or not in the dining car, just as 
they elect. 

Freedom to act has been in the power of man 
from the beginning. The whole chapter of life's 
career hinges upon this point. It is not only true 
in physical needs and wants, but also in the moral 
cravings of the soul. 

With all the conveniences and attractions of the 
dining car on the one hand and men's needs on the 
other there is the marked line of the power of 
choice. Some passengers go into the car and par- 



THE RAILWAY DINING CAR 



121 



take of the meal and others refuse to do so. Those 
accepting receive the benefit^ and those refusing lose 
it. So along the pathway of life. The attractive- 
ness of many a pursuit is placed before men and 
they are invited to accept and partake of the luxu- 
ries. All is not dark in this world. The beauties 
of nature, the resources of wealth, in its honest and 
legitimate course, the intelligence and sobriety of 
the good and the pure, the friendship of true and 
loving hearts, the exalted fame of true greatness, 
and the lasting happiness of human and divine 
proffers alike are so spread out by a Beneficent 
Hand that each and all may accept and enjoy if 
they will. And every one who chooses this proffer 
is made happy with blessings infinitely higher than 
the physical feasting of a palatial dining car. Who 
that beholds one view of the dark and reveling 
scenes of unbelief and debauchery, be it in the 
mart of trade, gilded circles of worldly fashion, 
the bacchanalian zeal of corrupted and wasted am- 
bition, the lewdness of human lusts, or in the low- 
est condition of squalid misery, could for a moment 
suppose there was the least morsel in the feasting 
that was satisfying to the soul and the mind ? Not 
one person could surmise such a thing. It is not 
in the nature of the case. But in the full blaze of 
feasting the moral being with proper food that is 
both palatable and healthful, there is the constant 
shining of the sunlight of joy and pleasure. 

And furthermore, amid the lessons of the dining 



122 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



car, the passengers can eat and ride at the same 
time. This may seem simple in its statement, but 
in its suggestive thought there is a world of mean- 
ing and happiness. It is a significant fact that few 
public conveyances can be found with this accom- 
modation. Sometimes you find it on the steamboat, 
and rarely in other places. Railway corporations 
have but recently provided this convenience. It is 
most gladly welcomed by many. But while this is 
so, and many choose it for a benefit in journeying, I 
am glad that the feasting of the soul while journey- 
ing along the pathway of life is no recent invention. 
Ever since man had a being it has been his privi- 
lege to walk in perpetual joy amid supplies for his 
soul. This has ever been his lot when he has jour- 
neyed on in obedience to the will of God. Peace 
and happiness are allotted to him if he but follow 
the pathway of holiness. He has not to stop his 
travel and linger by the station of mirth or worldly 
pleasure ; but with the knowledge sought and re- 
ceived and constant companionship with his Maker 
and Saviour, he eats and travels, the soul is feasted, 
and his pilgrimage is delightful. Will you be one 
of these pilgrims ? 



CHAPTER V 



THE RAILWAY SWITCH 

IT may seem an insignificant thing to use a rail- 
way switch to enforce any great truth and 
illustrate any blessing. But let us see. 

With long lines of raihvays the switch often forms 
connections. Indeed^ I do not know of anything 
that could fill its place for this purpose. Connec- 
tions must be formed along the track of every rail- 
way. 

The road bed and ties may be laid, the rails in 
their places, cars upon the track with plenty of 
workmen to push the enterprise, but for all practical 
purposes here and there a side track must be laid 
and a switch to form connections with each track 
and train. This is an outgrowth from the nature 
of the case. It is a strong link in the chain of all 
railway work. The managers and Avorkmen alike 
would not know how to manage railway matters 
without this. And, dear reader, do you know this 
is the way with your life in soul and body? 

Created as you are with all the senses of your 
being, feeling, tasting, seeing, hearing, and smell- 
ing, together with all the connection of bone, muscle, 
sinew, and brain, and in the moral nature of the 

123 



124 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



soul^ with its affections, love, joy, and gladness, there 
must be issues of every character of action that 
form a connection one with the other. Our life's 
connections need a switch as well as the railway. 
Love is often turned from hate. Joy must be 
turned from sorrow ; evil intentions must be turned 
to right purposes, and, in a word, the Avhole course 
of a man must at times be turned into another 
channel. Every day for physical or moral purposes 
we witness some exhibition of these connections in 
the lives of men. 

Important and great as are the changes to be 
made upon the railway ^ the switch that effects them 
is very small. Not like the engine or train, that can 
be heard and seen a long distance, can it be seen 
and heard. It is a small instrument that by one 
little movement of the rod can change the whole 
course of a huge train, possibly avert an accident, 
or change the destinies of freights of immense value. 
Its dimensions and cost are small in comparison 
with other parts of the machinery of the road. And 
when the change or turn of track or train is made by 
it, it is quickly effected. How like this are the turn- 
ing-points in the life of man. A little word, a little 
act, or some conclusion or decision, often turns him 
into a w^ay of great consequences. It may be a way 
of great blessing ; it may be of wrong and disaster. 
How many an instance there has been of a single 
moment that has dashed the hopes and labors of a 
lifetime to destruction. And how many instances 



THE RAILWAY SWITCH 



125 



there have been where a wrong course has been 
pursued^ that the decision of a single moment has 
turned husband, wife, children, and the whole des- 
tinies of a home into the way of happiness forever. 
As a train with all the immense cost of engine, cars, 
track, and its equipments, together with the untold 
worth of its priceless cargo, after the care and cost 
of a long journey, the switch being misplaced by 
one little act may, in an instant, dash all to de- 
struction, or in like manner with all its attendant 
resources of interests and wealth, nearing its desti- 
nation, by one turn of the switch has been guided 
safely to its goal amid the highest impulses of happi- 
ness and joy, even so men have often spent lives of 
care and earnest endeavor to build up characters and 
fortunes, but eventually have by some little mistake 
turned the whole into disgrace and ruin, or, on the 
other hand, by one little turn in the wheel of wis- 
dom, have attained the highest degree of success 
morally and temporally, and been guided in the 
vast train of their destinies unto the heavenly goal. 
How much often turns on little things. Will you 
learn and heed the suggestive lesson of the switch 
in its little offices? 

It may also he i^emarhed that the one object of the 
switch is to maJce local changes. Switches do not 
travel from one point to another. They remain 
local. Their office is to effect necessary changes 
where they are. Always where it is found that a 
change is needed by the train from one track to 



126 



THAT EAILROAD MAN 



another there is found a switch to do the bidding 
of its master. So with your life. In a sense you 
may be your own master^ but in every essential 
responsibility you are amenable to your ]\Iaster, 
the great Creator. Your body may be transported 
from one place to another^ and bear about wdth it 
the soul of your life^ but there is w^ith you a monitor 
which God has placed there to turn the interests 
and destinies of your very life. This you cannot 
remove while life lasts. You may employ it for 
essential purposes in the changes of your life^ but 
you cannot change it from one place to another. 
It must remain. Its office is to do your bidding in 
conjunction with the exalted head of your life^ the 
Creator of your being. As the switchman is obli- 
gated to obey the mandates of the creator of his 
position in all his actions with the switch, so are 
you called upon to observe the wise dictates of 
God. He has given you the switch — conscience — 
of your being and the Bible to regulate the use and 
employment of your conscience. There it is. And 
w^hen you wish to turn and change the actions of 
your life you have not to import some philosophic 
or scientific deduction for your guidance, but call to 
the conscience within you, aided by the directions 
of God's truth, and you are sure to be led into a 
way of happiness and blessing. 

The world's history has found this fact a reality 
and a blessing. And this leads me to say, the con- 
veniences of the switch are very needfuL 



THE RAILWAY SWITCH 



127 



Indeed, to conduct the services of the railway- 
without the switch would seem almost an impossi- 
bility. When trains desire to pass each other, or 
cars are to be left behind for the convenience of the 
station, or there is any other state of things to re- 
quire a clearing of the track to facilitate the wants 
of the people, how important that an instrument 
like the switch be placed at the disposal of the rail- 
way operators. Surely it is very evident that often 
when a train is bent upon a given course it needs 
to be turned into another. This is an imperative 
necessity at times. Possibly it may be said in this 
instance, " Necessity is the mother of invention.^^ 
Certainly we have the necessity and the supply. 
So with our physical and moral being. Whatever 
reasoning we may make, or conclusions reach, this 
one thing is clear — man in this world needs guid- 
ing. This cannot be gainsaid with any degree of 
success. When men have undertaken to guide 
their own course, without observing the proper 
instruments given by the great Creator, they have 
found it baneful. At every turn of their life they 
need a switch to put them on the right track. This 
switch, as I have said, is conscience. I would not 
say that conscience is an unaided guide. The Bible 
and the Holy Spirit have been provided to assist 
conscience in its dictates. And those who have 
unreservedly followed these dictates have always 
been found on the track of sobriety and happiness. 
And for man to be placed in this world without 



128 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



such provision would be like making a car without 
a brake or a road without a switch. 

It is also evident^ therefore^ that great consequences 
hang upon the right use of the sioitch. 

It will not do to use it carelessly. It must be 
moved at the right time and in the right direction. 
Human lives are often at stake upon the change of 
the switch a few inches. So vast interests in this 
world hang upon the action of the will at a given 
point and time. Yea, the eternity of many a man 
has hung upon the decisions of a single moment. 
Consequences that are beyond computation have 
often hung upon a small change in the arena of 
life. Does not the wife of some railroad man as 
she reads these lines feel this fact? And is there 
not a step needful for her to take at this moment 
for the happiness of herself, her husband, or her 
children, for this w^orld or another, or both ? Is 
there not some railway president, manager, super- 
intendent, engineer, conductor, and are there not 
men of other grades, who need an important change 
in some habit, practice, or position for their own 
happiness and others ? Are you not conscious that 
it would be far better for your own happiness and 
your influence upon others if the needful change 
was made at once ? Then ivill you not change the 
switch noiv ? 

Are you conscious that in your heart, the very 
citadel of your life, you are wrong and on the side 
track ? Will you switch off upon the main track ? 



THE RAILWAY SWITCH 



129 



Have you found that any act or word of your life 
is out of the right way, will you not switch on to 
the right track? Are you on the side track of 
intemperance, will you not switch off on the right 
track ? Are you a swearing man, will you not 
stop and switch upon the track of pure language ? 
Are you on the side track as a neglecter of prayer, 
reading the Bible, and of saving faith in God ? If 
so, I urge you, without delay, to switch off upon 
the main track that leads straight along the high- 
way of holiness. 



CHAPTER VI 



THE LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE 

THE history and experience of man in the ages 
past^ as now, show conclusively the necessity 
of something to arouse him from the slumbers of 
indolence, of dormant powers, and of sin. Numer- 
ous have been the means for this, and in the rail- 
road enterprise nothing has been more effective for 
this than the whistle. 

The whistle is very small in itself, hut has a great 
influence. It may be so small that when you see it 
mounted upon the engine you hardly discover that 
it possesses the power of alarm, guidance, and even 
control of the train and many people around it. 
But so it is. It is needful and useful. Small as it 
is, it has a timely and important mission. So has 
conscience with man. It speaks, and generally at 
the right time. It sounds out warning and win- 
ning alike. With all his native talent, culture, 
knowledge, influence, circumstances and aids to 
pursue the battles of life, there is nothing in his 
make-up, large or small, so watchful and careful to 
arouse his sensibilities as the little monitor, con- 
science. Like the whistle for the engine and train 
is conscience for the conduct of our steps and life. 

130 



THE LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE 131 



It is true that far too many men are careless of 
little things as though they had nothing to do with 
our acts and words and even destiny. But this 
does not change the fact. In intemperance the first 
glass has to be taken^ in swearing the first oath has 
to be uttered^ in lying the first lie is told, in going 
in bad company there must be the first time, and 
whatever evil course is followed, the first step has 
to be taken. And in each and all of these, and 
many more than we have mentioned, the whistle of 
conscience calls out and says. Stop. In the ways 
of right this same voice speaks out and says, Loosen 
the brakes, we go forward. Would you form a 
good resolution, would you purpose for a righteous 
and noble object, would you reform from swearing, 
intemperance, or any evil in life, yea, would you 
give thoughtful consideration to your soul, enter a 
life of prayer, be consecrated to your God, be holy 
and lay up your treasure in heaven; remember the 
voice divinely appointed tells you of the safety and 
blessing of such a course. This is what this voice 
from within was provided for, and because it seems 
small in its office and work it is not to be disre- 
garded or disobeyed. You cannot refuse with im- 
punity to heed its admonitions any more than those 
in charge of a lightning express train loaded with a 
priceless freight can afford to disregard the whistle's 
unmistakable call. And if you study the course of 
men during the ages past, you will find that bless- 
ings and cursings alike have followed them just in 



132 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



proportion as they have regarded or disregarded the 
small^ nevertheless powerful conscience whistle of 
their hearts. 

Sometimes the whistle alarms in cases of danger. 
So does the living and potent voice of man. It is 
amazing to see the many means by which we are 
surrounded to arouse and shield us from danger 
and harm. And it is a shame that so many men^ 
women, and children too, fall into a snare when 
God is sounding out peal after peal of unmistakable 
alarm. 

It is one of the prime offices of the railway 
whistle to give forth the call of alarm when those 
connected with the train or those surrounding it 
are endangered. When the engineer sees danger 
ahead he at once blows the whistle to warn and 
arouse the endangered ones. This is the signal for 
action to provide for means of safety. And how 
wise men are to obey it. Would that they were as 
ready to obey the call of alarm in moral action 
when the soul and character are in danger. When 
there comes the whistle sounding down brakes, how 
quickly the brakeman is at his post, while the pas- 
sengers are all astir to know the character of the 
danger. There is no dullness or indifference then. 
Every person is alive to act for his or her safety. 
Who ever knew such an alarm to be treated with 
neglect ? Can it be true that God in the creation 
of our being and its motive power has been less 
mindful of our moral needs in the hour of peril 



THE LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE 133 



than the calculator of the railway has for the emer- 
gencies of its work and progress ? It cannot be. 
No, no! A little thought and investigation will 
show that from the cradle to the grave every 
avenue of our life is guarded fully and wisely. 
The very thoughts of our hearts have the touch of 
alarm at the slightest appearance of impending 
danger. 

No man can claim ignorance in the walks of life. 
Habits may be strong and almost crush out much 
of the sacred workings of conscience, crimes may 
blacken the soul, sin may curse man and the very 
blackness of darkness gather around him, thunders 
roll and lightnings flash amid the revels of a wicked 
life, while sorrows seize with unrelenting grasp upon 
his moral nature, and the bitterness of untold misery 
hedge every avenue of his thoughts, while amid all 
he may determine to bend his way on to destruction, 
yet he will find that God will not cease to command 
the living conscience to cry out and warn against 
impending danger, saying, Stop! 

You may flee to any and every conceivable sub- 
terfuge to drown this alarm, but you cannot do it. 
Oh, what a waiting, watching, faithful friend to our 
best interest in life or death is conscience. The rail- 
way whistle may be the best alarm and corrective 
in its line yet discovered for railway purposes, but 
how much more the conscience to alarm and cor- 
rect amid the dangers of the soul. 

It is also a thought worthy of notice that the whistle 



134 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



is sometimes a beneficent guide. How many people 
have been blessed by heeding its sounding call. 
Many a wearied, waiting traveler has been cheered 
by hearing the whistle blow as the cars neared the 
station to bear them on to some happy goal. It 
guided them to the knowledge that their helpful 
benefactor to bear them on their journey was near. 
So when the heart has been cultured, and our best 
welfare observed while waiting to pass to the goal 
of our heavenly home, the voice of a sanctified con- 
science speaks out and cries, Here is home ! How 
this has cheered many a longing soul, wearied and 
worn with the trials and cares of life. Happiness 
may prevail in every avenue of the heart, so we may 
exclaim in poetic strain, Where thou art is heaven,^^ 
yet there is a waiting and watching and expecting 
for the better country. Nothing can be more 
cheering to such a soul than, like the traveler at 
the station hearing the whistle bidding him take 
the train homeward, to hear the divine voice call- 
ing him to eternal blessedness and reward. This 
is not all. You experience beneficent guidance 
when friends are separated from you. Long and 
sad may have been their absence. You have felt it 
keenly. It may be a father, mother, sister, brother, 
husband, wife, or child. You have longed to see 
them. The separation has cost you many an hour 
of loneliness. You fondly hope for a reunion. You 
anticipate it with pleasure. You are conscious that 
the time for it draws nearer and nearer. By and 



THE LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE 135 



by the hour and day approach for you to meet 
the dear ones. You go to the station and wait to 
hear the whistle of the incoming train. Eagerly 
you listen to hear the first pealing sound burst upon 
your ears to tell you the train is near^ and you can 
now behold the face of the dear^ long-absent one. 

Nothing can be a greater pleasure to you at this 
moment than to listen to the whistle signal giving 
the first intimation that your long and anxious 
anticipations are to be realized. By this you are 
blessed, comforted, and made happy. Yet this is 
but a faint picture, hardly a glimpse of the reality 
of that coming hour, to those who have placed 
themselves upon the highway of holiness, pursued 
the pathway of light and life, avoided the sins which 
displease God, and are waiting for the second coming 
of their Lord and reunion with loved ones gone 
before.^^ There is a voice within that will speak to 
such in a coming hour. To this the railway whistle 
has but a faint comparison. After long, tedious 
waitings the hour will approach and they will fondly 
look for the greeting on the heavenly shore. All 
things will have been prepared. They take their 
place at the station, wherever it may be, at home 
or abroad, and wait. The signal voice sounds, and 
with delight and joy they greet the loved ones. 

The sound of the whistle sometimes awakens from 
sleep. 

Here a lesson of vast moment may be learned. 
It may be while the passengers are asleep and the 



136 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



whistle awakens them in time to leave the train at 
the right time and place, or it may be when some 
man is asleep on the track and is awakened just in 
time to save his life. Or, if the train is to go out 
early in the morning, it may be necessary for the 
watchman to blow the whistle to call the men who 
man the train from their sleep, and also to arouse 
the citizens in like manner to get ready to depart. 
At any event it often performs such service. If 
there is need in the material and physical world for 
such a monitor to arouse men from their sleep to 
the duties and activities of life, how much more in 
the moral life ! We may not have the whistle of 
iron, brass, and steam for this, but we have the con- 
science, which speaks in like manner, and is infinitely 
more potent. It often arouses us from the slumbers 
of sin. It tells us when to go and when to stop. 
A young man said to me the other day, " I have 
given up the use of tobacco.^^ I said, Why and 
when did you do it ? He replied, Some months 
ago I thought in my meditations that it was an in- 
jurious, nasty, mean habit, and I quit it.^^ Who 
will say this was not a grand resolution, a noble 
step ? He was sleeping in this habit. What awak- 
ened him ? It was his ever- waiting, faithful friend, 
the conscience. It was this that sent forth a shrill 
call that aroused him from slumber and caused him 
TO ACT. So in the multiplicity of evil, injurious, and 
often ruinous habits. Thousands live to-day who 
have heard these calls and heeded them. These 



THE LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE 



137 



rejoice. I have never heard one regret that they 
had heeded them. Thousands live to-day, or fill 
dishonored graves, to whom the call came ; they 
heard but would not heed, and sad are the conse- 
quences. To such as are within the sound of the 
call now, may I urge those suggestive thoughts as 
timely for your good, and will you receive them as 
such ? 



CHAPTER VII 



THE RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES 

SOME years ago a railroad engineer who had 
been converted and lived an eminent Christian 
life of great usefulness among his comrades^ when 
about to die was asked, Is the religion of Christ 
now all that you thought it would be ? He said : 
Tell the boys I was once afraid of the cable, but 
I am afraid no more. I have tried every link in 
the chain and she holds. The cable and the 

ANCHOR ARE ALL RIGHT, AND I AM SAFE.'^ Thcse 

are golden words indeed, and may they serve as a 
light to lighten the path of many a railroad man. 
But who can tell how often it became a living expe- 
rience with this man that the brakes upon his train 
were not all the brakes he ever used ? 

Brakes were often put upon his heart, his lips, 
and his life. He was subject to temptation like 
other men, and he Avas never delivered without ap- 
plying hard the brakes of determined decision and 
divine grace. Before conversion, he says : I was 
awfully profane.^^ Becoming an earnest worker for 
temperance, at one time he urged : ^^The Bible says 
no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of heaven, 
and that is reason enough why every man should be 
138 



THE RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES 139 

temperate/^ He certainly must have been fre- 
quently in the midst of temptations and dangers 
which needed the strong brakes of moral power to 
check and save him in soul and body. 

With the cars yon fully understand that the brakes 
are an absolute necessity. No railroad corporation 
would think of running its trains without them. 
They are as essential to their places on the cars as 
are the men to fill the positions of engineer^ con- 
ductor^ or brakeman. Naught else could do their 
work. When the train moving on in full speed ought 
to stop^ they are needed to check the momentum. 
When it would again start on its course, they need 
to slacken their hold. So with human character 
and nature. They need brakes. Men often feel 
this necessity. It may be in hours of temptation, 
when assailed by the enemies of their happiness and 
welfare, or, it may be, amid the dangers and perils 
of life. Whenever it be, a man often needs help 
to stop. His pathway through this world is filled 
with pitfalls. There are foes within and foes with- 
out. He often needs warning and entreaty alike to 
check him in his career. If rightly guided and 
conducted, brakes must be applied. Word and act 
must be held in abeyance. Unless a power of this 
character can be applied it is certain that not unfre- 
quently disaster must ensue. Why not ? What is 
there to hinder? Surely human nature is full of 
wild determinations, and these, left to themselves, 
would be like an unbridled horse. Whether it be 



140 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



by the spoken and oft-repeated words of a loved 
mother^ in tender youth or mature years^ the coun- 
sels of a wise father^ the timely advice of a friend^ 
the good impulses of a generous heart, or some 
gentle whisperings of the Holy Spirit within, the 
necessity remains always the same. As the train 
to be safe must have brakes, so men, and especially 
th.e youth, must have influences that will restrain 
them in their course. They must have brakes 
when they are tempted or inclined to err. If they 
are saved, some power must be applied to stop 
them. The young man tempted to swear, lie, cheat, 
gamble, use tobacco, drink intoxicating liquors, or 
give himself away to bad companions, should have 
at hand the brakes of determination to say No. 
The man of years or middle life who is tempted to 
speak sinful words, commit wrong acts, exert bane- 
ful influence or set a bad example, ought to ply the 
brakes of conscience, and desist. Destruction in a 
greater or less degree, sooner or later, unless this is 
done, is sure to come. 

Also to be effective the brakes must be applied at the 
right time. 

By this means, trains have been stopped under 
every conceivable circumstance — to turn off at the 
switch, for stopping at the station, in times of dan- 
ger, at the appearance of signals, and on reaching 
the destination. So in the career of men. And 
why should not railroad men, who are constantly in 
the midst of brakes and applying them upon the 



THE RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES 



141 



cars, learn to also put a check upon their own lives 
when needful, and at the right time. This is one 
of the wisest things men ever learned to do. One 
glance over even the area of our personal knowl- 
edge will unfold to us broad scenes of joy and 
blessing which have been occasioned by applying 
the brakes at the right time in varied lines of rail- 
way travel. Hearts have been made glad, friends 
have greeted each other with untold joy, accidents 
have been averted, and lives saved. Homes have 
been made to rejoice in the sunlight of affection, 
while husband, wife, father, mother, sister, and 
brother, have been returned to the loved circle of 
the dear ones. 

On the other hand, a failure to apply the brakes 
at the right time has often produced calamity and 
sorrow. Accidents have come ; disaster and ruin 
have been scattered along the track ; disappoint- 
ments have been keenly felt at home and abroad ; 
business transactions have been disturbed, and many 
a sorrow occasioned thereby. In the varied moral 
aspects of life similar experiences are wrought. If 
you see the drinking man persist in his course, re- 
fusing to apply the brakes of decision to stop, you 
will soon see him plunge into the vortex of ruin. 
If you see the young man taking a wrong course 
in dissolute habits, not heeding the many calls to 
stop, it is only a question of time till his end will be 
sorrow and death. If you see any person or class 
of persons traveling on in unbelief and sin, and 



142 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



persisting in their opposition to humility, repentance, 
and faith in Jesus, it will be no surprise to know 
that by and by they end their course with the lost. 
But on the other hand, putting on the brakes at the 
right time has given many a soul happiness, present 
and eternal. It has peopled heaven with immortal 
ones ; husbands, wives, parents, and children in a 
glorified state. There is nothing like it. Herein 
lies the great boon of human happiness. On the 
other hand, there can be no doubt that the loath- 
some prisons now peopled with wretched, sorrowing 
ones, resound with wailings of consciences crying, 
^^If I only had,^' but when it is too late. Bitter 
regrets do not avert the consequences of sin, crime, 
and wrong-doing. Down brakes to stop at the right 
time, is always the watchword along the path of 
moral danger. 

It is said that many years ago a bridge-tender 
on one of the railways in England was urged by 
the captain of a ship to run off the bridge and let 
him go through with his ship. His reply was : ' I 
expect the lightning train in a few moments, and 
there will not be time.^ The captain urged, say- 
ing : ' I will get through in time.^ Against his 
convictions he consented. But just as the ship was 
nearly through, and he was about to replace the 
bridge, he heard the frightful shriek of the whistle 
and the dreadful rumbling of the wheels. It was 
an awful moment. And just as the engine and 
train were about to make the fatal plunge into the 



THE RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES 143 



watery abyss in which many lives were sacrificed^ 
he was seen to run his fingers into his hair in a 
most terrified manner^ and cry : ^ If I only had ! if 
I only had ! if I only had ! ^ and with reason de- 
throned he was taken to an asylum where for a long 
time, night and day, he walked the floor with this 
fearful cry^ until death ended his career/^ What a 
moment was that at the urging of the captain when 
he should have ^^down brakes^' by a decisive No. 
Tlien how much slaughter and suffering would 
have been averted. And what shall we say of the 
tens, scores, hundreds, and thousands who, amid the 
temptations of moral peril, push on in shame, ruin^ 
and death, and will not say No ? 

To-day our prisons are crowded with inmates 
who are reviewing the past with the cry, If I only 
had In our homes there are heads of families 
whose sad course in the past compels them to send 
forth the sad wail, If I only had ! Many chil- 
dren as in disobedience and sin they enter the path 
of life, soon utter the sad lament, If I only had ! 
Railroad men that I have often met, who had been 
led into wrong-doing, sigh in the depths of their 
hearts and say, If I only had ! and indeed every 
rank of society is hushed, while it pauses to listen 
to the sad and bitter cry, If I only had ! What 
significance, and what a lesson to all who still enjoy 
the golden opportunity of right purpose and right 
action. 

But on the other hand, what happiness and pros- 



144 



THAT KAILROAD MAN 



perity usually attend those who put a cheek upon 
themselves in evil ways and habits and inclinations 
at the right time. Once conquered and getting the 
mastery over passion^ how many a young man, how 
many a young lady, how many an older person, has 
been glad and rejoiced at their escape and victory. 
Who ever heard of a person regretting such a step 
of wisdom ? As well might you expect to hear of 
a brakeman upon the railway regretting that he had 
put down brakes and saved a long train of passen- 
gers in the face of impending danger. 

Just one other thought in this illustrative lesson. 
Usually the use of one brake affects many cars. So 
with those men who take a decided stand for the 
right, and avert that which is evil. They never 
stand alone. It is no uncommon thing to see the 
brake applied upon the train, and all the cars, the 
full length of the train, feel the effects. Thus it is 
with families, communities, and corporations. 

When the parents, one or both, act aright, and 
check every evil propensity, and give all their en- 
ergies to build up good character in the home, the 
effect upon the children and all the circle is at once 
and continually apparent. Likewise it is so with 
such men throughout the community. And when 
the president, general manager, and head officials 
of a railway corporation are right in this direc- 
tion, it will be sensibly felt in all the ranks of their 
men. 

This whole experience is like the links of a cable 



THE RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES 145 

chain. One pull upon the head hook affects every 
link in the chain. Such is the network of human 
life that every person around will feel the pulse of 
your moral character, be it good or bad. Then how 
important that all be right. 

i 



K 



CHAPTER yill 



HEADLIGHT OF THE RAILWAY ENGINE 

A DISTINGUISHED railway official on learn- 
ing that I was about to make a book for the 
social and moral benefit of the railroad men of our 
country and their homes^ suggested to me that I 
make one chapter on the headlight of the engine, 
illustrative of the great fact that Jesus Christ is the 
light of the world. My friend felt that in doing this, 
I would lead at least many of these men and their 
families to see that this divine light and its source 
present to them the highest type of social and moral 
life. 

In all the affairs of this life light is both needful and 
desirable. The Creator fully understood this, when 
at the very beginning he said : Let there be light : 
and there was light.'^ And was it strange that this 
official, who was a Christian man, should make to 
me the suggestion he did? He had learned by 
experience the language of Jesus, who as the divine 
Teacher said : I am the light of the world, he that 
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
have the light of life.'^ The demands of life make 
light imperative. As the eye is to the body in all 
its gifts and paxis, its aims and activities, so is the 

146 



HEADLIGHT OF THE RAILWAY ENGINE 147 

light that God has made for our conveniences and 
pursuits of life. And nowhere is it more needful 
than in the prosecution of the railway business. 

Much as the gas^ electric, and lantern lights are 
needed in all departments of the railway work, there 
is yet no place where light is needed so much as it 
is as the headlight of the engine. What interests 
of infinite moment are dependent upon the guiding 
rays of this light. It is absolutely an imperative 
necessity. The train, freighted with a priceless 
burden, may pursue its way at lightning speed 
through forests and over broad prairies, over bridges 
and deep water-courses, and amid all the dangers 
that are incident to the uncertainties of the way ; 
and what if all were dark, without light to see any 
impending danger? The creators and projectors of 
our railways realized this great necessity, and pro- 
vided a bright and effective light at the head of the 
engine, to aid in giving safety to the travelers 
against any danger that might threaten their pathway. 

This provision of the railroad corporations is no 
more real than is the provision of God for light in 
our social and moral needs. His provision is sure 
and ample in Christ, the " light of the world.'^ 
Men have everywhere and always found it so. Is 
the heart dark with sin ? This light comes to give 
joy and deliverance. Are you burdened with sor- 
row? This light beams upon you to remove it. 
Are you tried with the cares of life, and does gloom 
settle all around you ? The bright rays of the light of 



148 



THAT RAILKOAD MAN 



Jesus will dispel the gloom. Are you a railroad 
man^ a husband or father^ much of the time away 
from the home of your loved ones ? By faith in God 
you will find your heart cheered and comforted by 
the light that Christ brought into this world. Have 
you been bereaved and had dear ones taken from 
your side ? Remember that this divine light will light 
up your pathway to the heavenly land to meet them 
again. Are you the wife of a railroad man^ much 
of the time at home caring for dear children^ and 
anxiously awaiting the return of your husband ? Do 
not feel lonely^ but remember that this divine light 
will afford you blessings of wisdom, comfort, and 
companionship with Jesus. 

Light often leads to safety. It is probable that 
there is no place in the world where this fact is 
more signally felt than with travelers upon the rail- 
road when the headlight of the engine is shining at 
every yard of the journey through the darkness of 
the night. Many have been the instances where by 
means of the headlight upon the engine, dangers 
have been averted that might have caused a great 
calamity and fearful loss of life. While darkness 
is often of excellent service to give us a quiet night 
of rest, much evil and many wrongs are often com- 
mitted therein entailing great sorrow, suffering, and 
even death, that would not have been committed in 
the light. 

It is so true that in almost every station in life, 
light is the great need for our safety and our happi- 



HEADLIGHT OF THE RAILWAY ENGINE 149 

ness. While the safety of railway travel demands 
the brightness of the engine headlight, even more 
than this do our daily walks and all the relations of 
life, socially, morally, and physically, demand that 
we have the bright sun for our cheer and our good. 
God has provided for the full supply of this demand. 
Not a day passes but the sun moves over our heads. 
Clouds may come and the light vanish for a little, 
but we knoAV the sun is just behind the cloud and 
at any moment its bright rays may beam upon our 
pathway again in our business, our homes, our rela- 
tions in life, and dispel all gloom and light up 
every avenue of our lives. 

But there is another Sun. The word of God calls 
it the Sun of Righteousness. How this differs from 
the other sun, that may somewhat benefit us socially, 
morally, and physically in its effects upon our per- 
sons and lives ! It also differs greatly from the 
engine light, which can only give us local benefit. 
But this is God's righteous sun, that when it shines 
upon us and in us sets everything right for this 
world and the other. It gives to us that experience 
of which the Bible speaks when it says : The path 
of the just is as a shining light that shineth more 
and more unto the perfect day.^^ Some time ago I 
stood by the track in a small Western town waiting 
for the train. It was just at the dawn of morning. 
The stars of the night were disappearing. The 
morning light was breaking forth from the eastern 
horizon. I was told that on that spot you could 



150 



THAT KAILROAD MAN 



stand and see in a straight course the headlight of 
the train six miles away. I looked with interest to 
see the first glimmer of the light. At first it seemed 
very small — not bigger than the flicker of a candle. 
But on it camCj nearer and nearer. At each revolv- 
ing of the wheels the light grew larger and larger. 
It was indeed cheering to see the approach of the 
train that would soon take me on board and carry 
me to the desired destination. The light increased 
as the train advanced. It was grand. As I stood 
upon the track the light seemed to grow larger and 
larger until it just swallowed me up in its refulgent 
rays. How, I exclaimed, this is like the pathway 
of the Christian. He learns about Christ, and by 
faith sees him. The light of life shines into his 
soul. It may be at the beginning very small, just 
a glimmer. But he looks and looks. The Sun of 
Righteousness beams upon his soul, body, and life, 
until his whole being is swallowed up in the glory 
and the brightness of it — of him w^ho is the light 
that lighteth every man. 



CHAPTEE IX 



THE RAILWAY LANTERN 

T)E of good cheer/^ was the call of the great 
Teacher, and the source of great blessing. 
It meant light, and in it was no darkness at all. A 
railroad man said to me : " AVhen you write in your 
book about the lantern, say to the men as they get 
light from Christ, who is the light of the world: 
' You should as the lesser lights represent him, and 
as far as in you lies, like your lantern, shed your 
light of benefit, socially and morally, to those around 
you.^ 

The lantern light is real. Just as sure as it is 
filled and lighted it sends forth light. This is true 
of every railroad man. Sure as he has life, he has 
influence, and that influence will assert itself upon 
the characters of those around him. More than 
this, every railroad man has some good qualities. 
Some have more than others, but all have some. 
And these are always a felt power. The light of 
the lantern does not shine less because the extent of 
its light is limited. It is real light as far as it ex- 
tends. So with the men in their influence. It is 
inevitable that the influence of each man will be a 
felt power for good or evil upon those about him as 

151 



152 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



far as it goes. If it is good^ he receives it directly 
or indirectly from God, " the giver of every good 
and perfect gift/^ The devil imparts no good gifts, 
but evil, and that continually, are his works. 

The kindly impulses of railroad men. In a long 
life of travel, I have found that as a class they are 
exceptionally gifted in generous and kindly feelings 
toward others in all in which they have to do with 
the public. In sickness and in health, prosperity 
and adversity, this is exceptionally true, from the 
president down through all their ranks. As I have 
watched the development of the railway enterprise 
for half a century, I have seen a constant growtli 
on the part of those at its head, in purpose to ele- 
vate the men, and to employ men of the best type 
of character to operate the roads. The nature of 
the business and the public equally require this. 
And the highest officials were never more anxious 
to meet this demand than to-day. My object in 
making this book is to help on this movement, so- 
cially and morally. And I know of no better means 
by which to illustrate and set forth this great pur- 
pose with both men and officials than the railway 
lantern. Christ is the great light of the world, and 
every person who comes within the bright rays of 
this light must reflect it in some degree. You may 
not be a professed Christian, but you live where 
Christian influences shine all about you, and as you 
partake of this influence others will feel it through 
you. 



THE RAILWAY LANTERN 



153 



The headlight and the lanteim. As the head- 
light of the engine is the largest light of the 
railway equipments, and may well illustrate Christ 
as the great light of the world, so may the lan- 
tern, the lesser light, illustrate every railroad man 
who exerts a power for good, as a lesser light 
to show forth the power of Christ and his love. 
If you are a true Christian, as I have known 
many railroad men to be, as well as others, your 
light will be pronounced in its brightness in your 
home and among your fellows. In this you will 
have a conscious delight. Due attention and care- 
ful observation will show you that there is not a 
dark place anywhere in which there has not been 
placed a light to enable men to unmistakably travel 
the way to heaven. The Bible is the guide. This is 
divinely given. No railway train ever needed 
more at proper times to be signaled to stop and 
examine the track ahead, than does man need to 
occasionally stop along the pathway of life and con- 
sider his position as to right influence for his home 
and elsewhere in this world and for eternity. This 
book of God for wise considerations comes in a 
timely way with rich and wise instruction to in- 
vite you and warn you. It is too late in the day 
to debate about its legitimacy or inspiration. It 
has stood the passing of too many ages and has 
wrought too many blessings for man, and is to-day 
too much the accredited handbook of men to be 
doubted or ignored. Not a place can be found in 



154 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



the home^ the school, the church, the business mart, 
the railroad offices, or any department of its busi- 
ness, or any other place along the journey of life 
where the Bible has gone, but that it has given the 
brightest light to bless mankind. Well is it for 
that man who is careful to observe this signal for 
his safe journey amid the perils of life. He will be 
guided in safety. If neglected he will be in dan- 
ger. There can be no question of the correctness 
of this. I do not mean, if he takes the word of 
God in a speculative way to pick flaws in it, to 
criticise it, and see how many divine thoughts he 
can measure by human thoughts and pronounce 
them wrong because they do not appear to be just 
as he would have arranged them. It is not ivisefor 
a raihoay man, officer or trackman, as soon as he 
has stopped the train to examine the lantern to see if 
there are cracks in it. If you have discovered no 
cracks, or seen no signs of any, and the lantern has 
done you and your friends good service, lighting and 
guiding you on your pathway, be thankful and joy- 
ous, and ready to use it again as soon as emergency 
requires. Wise, indeed, is that man, when he re- 
members what the Bible has done for fathers, and 
mothers, and children, and multitudes around him, 
if he reads it, studies it, and believes it. Surely he 
will have a bright light in his journey. We find 
the undoubted testimony to this, day by day and in 
every place. I do not call to mind a single instance 
in my whole life where I ever knew or heard of the 



THE RAILWAY LANTER^- 



155 



sickness or death of a railroad man, or of his wife 
or child, who did not desire to have brought to his 
home the blessings of the gospel. Not unfrequently 
they have been eager for it, and sometimes have 
greatly rejoiced in receiving it. 

The Bible as a beacon light is God^s gift. The 
inspired testimony is that, holy men of old spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.^^ So this 
signal light for directing men^s duties and privileges 
was delivered by the Holy Spirit. And this divine 
guide is now abroad in the world everywhere, by 
unseen influences checking men in their wrong 
ways and leading them on in ways of righteousness. 
And it should be a matter of grateful recognition 
that the Lord has given you this means. It is by 
his mercy and love, and not one person can escape 
the calls of the Spirit. God sends his Spirit into the 
hearts of railroad men as well as others. As surely 
as they carry the lantern to light up their pathway, 
so surely does God send his Spirit to light up their 
hearts. The statement made sometimes that rail- 
road men are a hard class especially is not true. I 
have thought sometimes they were exceptionally 
generous and kind. It is true they are deprived of 
many privileges that others enjoy. But in spite of 
this, many of them are true Christian men. And 
many others by reading these lines and yielding to 
the calls of the Spirit may join their number. 



CHAPTER X 



THE GRIP-CAR RAILWAY 

THIS is a railway that is used in several of the 
principal cities of our country. It is ingen- 
iously and peculiarly made. In its make-up there 
is much to suggest great moral truths. Until you 
see one you can hardly conjecture how it is made or 
what service it can perform. The road-bed and 
track look very much like other roads^ excepting 
that there is an iron band along the center of the 
track with a narrow opening. The engine with 
the propelling power may be one or more miles 
away from the cars. The " grip/^ which gives sig- 
nificance to the road^ is connected to the cars and yet 
so adjusted as to forcefully plunge itself through the 
narrow opening in the iron band in the center of 
the road. This grip however, is only attached to 
the grip car which propels all the other cars of 
the train, they being attached to it in the ordinary 
way of coupling. The motive power from the engine 
connects itself to the wire cable underneath the 
track. By this means there is formed with the grip 
a propelling connection. In this method by the 
simple slip of the grip the train is slackened or 
forced onward at the direction of the engineer. 

156 



THE GRIP-CAR RAILWAY 



157 



Here you see this road is made for serviceable 
action. It is to be employed to serve the com- 
munity about it; and the world. This may be true 
of all roads, yet this fact does not weaken the great 
truth suggested thereby. Possibly the original idea 
may have been investment of capital and increase 
of moneyed resources ; but does not this same idea 
underlie all the secular movements of men ? Never- 
theless, there is the truth of invested power to sub- 
serve the interests of others for their benefit. Self- 
ishness may have its place. Yea, it does everywhere, 
and with every person ; but the scheme of human 
action is a strange problem. 

However selfish it may be, the great Disposer of 
events has so ordered in the nature of the case that 
somebody must receive benefit in some form by 
the plans and developments of human action. In 
the great railroad enterprises of the world this is 
emphatically true. New inventions are being con- 
stantly pushed into service for the benefit of the 
people. At the same time railway corporations are 
getting immensely wealthy. And it will be nothing 
strange if in the course of time this invention of the 
grip car should become a means of very great rev- 
enue. Yet by this movement multitudes will have 
the benefit of its service, and so it will be one spoke 
in the wheel by which the world moves on. 

It is for serviceable action among the people. 
And how like this are the powers of men, physically 
and morally. God made men for no other purpose 



158 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



than to serve the highest interest of intelligence^ 
and especially his own name and glory ; not in a 
degrading or selfish sense^ but in the largest plans 
of benevolence. How slow^ some men are to learn 
that they were made for the purpose of the activities 
of life. God has no place for the drones and lazy 
in this world. I would not consider it a compli- 
ment for any man to say^ He is a man of leisure.^^ 
As the course of the grip car is to move on and bear 
along its pathway passengers to their destination of 
toil and pleasure, so men everywhere are called 
upon to bear the fruitage of good influence and 
blessing. 

It may also be said concerning the grip-car rail- 
ivay, there is evidence of supernatural power, I do 
not say it is so in its nature. We know it is of 
human invention, but the material means of this in- 
vention may all be traced to a supernatural source. 
Take the material of the road-bed, the track, the 
cars, and the machinery that propels the train, and all 
connected therewith, from whence came they ? You 
say they were provided in creation by the laws of 
nature. But every sane mind must conclude that 
there was a great supernatural beginning, a power 
that you cannot see or understand. So in the under- 
lying principles of our life and its responsibilities, 
we must accept our positions on the evidence placed 
before us, whether we understand all the unseen 
principles or not. AVhat if I wanted to get upon 
the grip-car train and avail myself of its service, 



THE GRIP-CAR RAILWAY 



159 



and I needed to do so, but just at that moment 
should say the utter absence of any visible propel- 
ling power, the stillness and quiet of its movements, 
and all its outward appearances give evidence that if 
I go I must go entirely by faith, and not understand- 
ing where the hidden power is or the nature of it, 
therefore I will have nothing to do with it, what 
would you think of my decision ? Or still further, 
what if others should stand and see my hesitancy, 
and tell me they had just ridden upon these cars, 
and been conducted in safety and reached the goal 
they desired, and I still persisted that, because I 
did not understand the secret of their power, I 
would not ride, would you not think me foolish 
not to accept the evidence? This is precisely what, 
possibly you, certainly very many, are doing to-day. 
The grip car of moral blessings by the riches of 
God's grace in joy, happiness, salvation, eternal life, 
and ten thousand benefits for this world, is passing 
along your path, and you desire to go just where it 
is going, but simply because you do not understand 
the hidden mysteries of divine love that move on- 
ward, there is a hesitancy to accept the conditions 
of submission and acceptance, go on board, and land 
yourself in the destination of perfectly satisfying 
happiness. The great defect of men everywhere 
to-day is that they are not willing to accept the 
supernatural provisions of blessing or the evidences 
of their existence. When will men be as wise in 
moral possibilities as they are in secular pursuits ? 



160 



THAT RAILBOAD MAN 



But one of the marked fecdures of this railway is 
that the cable underneath the track moves on in its 
course in an almost unobservable stillness. 

It passes on and on in its successive rounds^ often 
traveling with great velocity. Careless of the con- 
jectures of men as to its processes^ or suspicions of 
its dangers^ it goes forward with its great work. 
Its passengers are borne onward with speed, con- 
venience, and pleasure, scarce one ever knowing the 
cause of the motion underneath them. So there is 
a cable movement with men. They live, and move, 
and have their being. Breath and action are alike 
felt in the various spheres of life. They cannot tell 
why. Xo man has ever been able to solve the 
question until he believed in his God. I mean the 
living God. Xot the god of gold and silver, of 
railroad stocks, or of honor and fame, or human 
idols, but the living God. Great as is this being, 
he moves as the stillness of the gentle breeze. 
Sometimes there may come the rumblings of his 
thunderings, but even then with unseen power. 
Confidence in this unseen power is the groundwork 
of unsullied happiness. To feel an assurance in the 
Museen cable of the human mind is but to appre- 
nend the very highest source of happiness. It is 
this that men are everywhere seeking, but they fail 
in its pursuit until they accept the idea of faith in 
th t which they do not see, or understand the genius 
of .ts invention. It is written, No man hath seen 
Cod at any time,'^ and that no man can find out 



THE GRIP-CAR RAILWAY 



161 



God/^ But while this is true, shall we see the train 
of his works in the creation of sun, moon, and stars, 
and keeping them in their regular course, or of our 
own creation as well as that of myriads of other 
beings, and disbelieve ? Can we behold the birds 
of the air, beautiful and numberless, or can we 
know as we do of the vast schools of the fishes of 
the sea, besides the successive rounds of the handi- 
work of God, and doubt either the progress or reality, 
simply because we cannot look down into the nar- 
row opening of the majestic track of God? Never, 
no, never ! How foolish and sad such a course 
would be, — yea, fatal to the happiness of any man. 
But to hold and cherish such a belief all the ages 
past have attested as wise and good. 

And there never was a time when history per- 
taining to the blessing of men was made faster than 
now. Swift as the wheels of time roll on, every 
hour has its record. 

Another thing in this simple illustration, the open- 
ing in the middle of the track is so narrow that a 
foot or a carriage cannot he caught in it This is 
true of the narrow way that leads to heaven. Men 
who walk in this way cannot get caught in the snares 
of sin and transgression. The narrow opening in 
the grip-car track looks like a very simple and un- 
pretentious matter ; but in itself there is a relation 
to all the other parts of the work and machinery 
that is of great importance. Were it not for this 
the train could not move at all. It is the secret 

L 



162 



THAT KAII.ROAD MAN 



line of the whole business. So it is with the center 
line of Christianity. There may be other parts, yea, 
there are, but the one great center of power which 
conducts the line, the carriage, and the passengers, 
is the divinity that rests in the name, love, and 
grace of Jesus Christ. Here rest the power and 
faith that firmly and with unyielding grasp hold 
the line. Nothing else will do it. The man that 
holds this without swerving conquers. The reason 
that so many persons go down the steeps of sin and 
wrong after they desire to reform and stop the evil 
habit of thought, word, or act, is because they get 
out of the narrow way in the track, and try the 
broad gauge of self-trust and unbelief. Thousands 
fail just here. A man can no more progress rightly 
in this way than he can maintain life without breath. 
He must keep in the path God would have him. It 
is so narrow he cannot use aught but the grip of 
truth and sobriety and progress. And as foot or 
carriage cannot enter the narrow opening of the 
grip railway, so it is impossible for sin to be min- 
gled with holiness, and to move in the way to God 
and heaven. And it is strange that so many rail- 
road men, who have so many object-lessons in this 
direction, do not learn and act better. 

And this leads me to say that the grip dutches the 
cable to be effective. Without this it is impossible 
for the road to be of any service at all ; like the 
crude illustration of the Negro about faith, when he 
said : It takes right hold, holds right on, and no 



THE GRIP-CAR RAILWAY 



163 



let go/^ I mean, except it be at the bidding of the 
Master. Now in order for good and wise service 
the grip must fasten itself to the cable by a firm 
clutch, and then the cars and passengers pass rapidly 
on. So with all the powers and impulses of your 
moral nature. They must take hold of the cable 
of Jesus' grace, though you cannot see it by visible 
sight. It is just near you, and you have only to 
plunge your grip into the narrow opening and lay 
hold upon it by faith, hold it by a firm grasp, and 
you will be moved to joy and gladness and peace, 
and finally to heaven. Surely you have enougli 
knowledge in the illustration of this one railway 
scene to actuate you to this. Will you do it ? 



CHAPTER XI 



THE TEOLLEY RAILWAY 

EVERY word, action, and enterprise in this 
world must in the nature of the case have 
some propelling power. No person can speak or 
act without an actuating motive ; neither can a 
business enterprise be prosecuted without a desire 
and an aim, any more than an education can be 
acquired without brains or thought, or a bird can 
fly without wings, or a train of cars be drawn with- 
out steam in the engine. The inception and prose- 
cution of every laudable enterprise must have a 
good foundation. 

The trolley raihmy has an underlying preparation 
for its service. It could not exist and meet the de- 
mands of the people without this. They want 
reasons for a conscious belief that they are safe in 
the acceptance of its service. We see evidence on 
every hand that the public are availing themselves 
of its advantages, have confidence that it will re- 
ceive them and carry them to their desired place in 
safety and with satisfaction. This is apparent every- 
where along its lines. Whence this confidence and 
inspiration ? It is not in the president of the com- 
pany, or any one or all of its employees. Neither is 
164 



THE TROLLEY RAILWAY 



165 



it in the equipments. It is in the fact of its tested 
and established character. The system itself stands 
forth as perfectly reliable. 

So it is with human character. Its estimate will 
ever be measured by its reliability. To be confided 
in among men its underlying power must be known. 
I do not mean that all the officers and men along 
this railway, or that operate its cars, shall be pro- 
fessed Christians, or that they shall be skilled work- 
men in their respective places, but I do mean to say 
that those who have the best character for moral 
living and good citizenship will have the strongest 
hold on all the patrons. And to stand forth as an 
undoubted Christian would vastly increase this 
strong grasp and confidence of the people. 

Besides this, the railway enterprise must have the 
recognition of a hidden poicer. It could not live 
without this. All its parts, the existence and op- 
eration, are embraced in this. It could not succeed 
in its aims if it were not for this one secret thing, 
that as far as evidence goes up to this hour must 
remain secret. Since the invention was made and 
the trolley car came into use I have again and again 
tried to find out the secret of its power, but I can- 
not find one person who can explain or tell me the 
mysterious working of this great invention. But I 
recognize it, believe it, and avail myself of its bene- 
fits. Would you think me wise to say. Well, I do 
not understand all these mysteries, therefore I will 
not ride or share in their benefits ? But every per- 



166 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



son who operates these lines and every person who 
shares in the travel has a being, a life, an existence 
that must be recognized as parts of us. Yet how 
little do we know of the mysteries of our being as 
God has made us. True it is, however, that our 
lives are as real to us as the trolley road over which 
we travel. And we are equally conscious that as 
we would be unwilling to recognize the railway un- 
less it is of the best in every part, so we should seek 
to have our characters the noblest and the most per- 
fect. What if every person connected with these 
great companies were possessed of the spirit^ not 
only of moral character, but of God-fearing Christian 
men ? They would not only be saved eternally, but 
the corporations would be elevated vastly higher 
than they are now in power to bless, and it would 
be recognized that ^Hhe secrets of God are with 
men.'^ 

Plans for its use must be made and executed. And 
these must be of the wisest and most careful kind. 
While our country is dotted with various lines of the 
trolley railway the plans for their extension and suc- 
cess are far-reaching. It will not do for the pro- 
prietors to be careless in the equipment of their en- 
terprises. The location, routes, and demands of the 
people must be wisely considered. All these things 
will be planned and considered with the largest ex- 
pectation. The illustrative lesson of this thought is 
for the men and their families to plan equally and 
even more wisely in the making of their characters 



THE TROLLEY RAILWAY 



167 



for the journey and the expectation of the future. 
Every one is making a character for this and an- 
other world that in their plans and calculations 
must stand the test of being wise or unwise. 

The ivhole plan of a trolley railway is useless with- 
out a conducting wire. The motive power lies in 
this one thing. On this hinges the whole process of 
the work. If the connection is severed the cars stop, 
and those who depend upon the use of this railway 
are stopped for the time being. Confusion fills all 
their plans. It would be as impossible to manage 
this road without the connecting wire as it would be 
for a man to live and act in life without breath. 
And be it remembered that this wire is elevated. 
It is above all other parts of the railway. The 
roadbed, the track, the power machinery away in 
the distance, the cars with wheels, brakes, seats, and 
doors, the conductor, with all his management, col- 
lecting fares, looking after the accommodation of the 
passengers, together with the faithful motorman, 
may be regarded with interest, but each and all are 
not of so much consequence as the conducting wire 
itself. The attention of all who depend upon this 
helpful transportation is ever upon the wire that is 
above and speeds them along. So with every one, 
be they officer, workman, or traveler, who has to do 
with the road. In mind, heart, and life they must 
have power from a higher source to engage in right- 
doing in life. Many of these classes I have known 
who carefully observed this. Others did not. Wis- 



168 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



dom asserted herself in the happy appearance and 
elevating influence of those who thus by God's plan 
secured the conducting power from above. Every 
true testimony of the men and women of our time^ 
and also of past years, fully confirms the fact that it 
is impossible for us to fill the mission of our lives 
as we ought until we have in our hearts connection 
with the divine power that comes from above. Too 
much emphasis or attention cannot be given to the 
fact that the power and blessing of all this work is 
from above. It is seen in unnumbered instances of 
philanthropy and beneficence in the lives and acts 
of railroad men and their families. They have be- 
lieved in the power from above in their hearts, and 
confessed Christ with their lips, and exalted the 
name of God with the gifts of their substance, until 
their testimony has become a perpetual blessing to 
the world. 

And in this way ive see that when the poioer so 
secret and ever-blessed does reveal itself, it is bright. 
It shines with exceeding splendor. Often it is all 
dark, as this electric railway courses its way along, 
until quickly the lights shine forth all about you. 
They dispel the darkness and give forth refulgent 
rays of light. This always brings cheer and a felt 
blessing. The idea of darkness always brings dreary 
feeling and impressions just the opposite to the idea 
of brightness ; and this is as true in the moral world 
as it is of the physical. You may sit in the trolley 
car and all be dark, when of a sudden the light may 



THE TROLLEY RAILWAY 



169 



flash upon you and all is cheer. And at the same 
moment that the darkness covers you the Sun of 
Eighteousness may be shedding his bright rays in 
your heart, and when the car light may burst forth 
there is no change, only the light of your faithful 
Lord continues to shine in unchanging and greater 
brightness. Yes, perpetual light to our hearts is 
what is constantly sought by men everywhere, but 
is never found to be pure and lasting until they learn 
the lesson found in the trolley railway light, and 
seek and find it from the secret and hidden power, 
and from above. 

This brightness is satisfying in service. JS^one can 
doubt this. The experience of it is always of the 
most satisfying character. It has been witnessed 
over and over that when the surcharging power is 
in full force, giving the necessary action to the wire 
and light amid the surrounding darkness, motorman, 
conductor, and people, all alike feel a satisfaction in 
the journey. There is neither distrust nor hesitating 
fear. All appears well, and all is well, and a calm 
enjoyment of safety and conscious blessing rests 
upon every heart. All who read these lines will 
call to mind the travel of a trolley railway and say 
how true this representation is. There can be no 
doubt of it. 

But let us apply it to the moral condition of the 
motorman, conductor, travelers, and others. All 
will admit that amid the sinful darkness of our 
lives and the uncertainties of life there is need for 



170 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



US to seek light and blessing from the Lord Jesus 
Christ. This we must do if we would have a satis- 
fying light and brightness. 

But you say, I lead an upright life, speak pure 
words, do not commit crime, or in any way lead a 
life of doubtful character. Yes, but does any one 
of these, or do all of them, give satisfying light and 
brightness to the soul ? After careful consideration 
is not the cry of your heart, All is still dark ? Yes, 
you have arrived at a conclusion that untold num- 
bers have reached before you. The mind, heart, 
and acts combined cannot give a satisfying light to 
the soul. I do not say there may not be some dim 
rays of light springing up by speaking good words 
or performing kind deeds. But this kind of light 
cannot satisfy the moral cravings of your being any 
more than a tallow candle can fill the place of a 
bright electric light in a trolley car. Divine light 
from our Lord, of whom it is written, he is the 
light of the world,^^ can alone satisfy the demands 
of your moral being. And well were it for all con- 
nected with the trolley road, officer, w^orkman, or 
traveler, to seek and obtain it. 

Another most striking thing about the trolley 
railway is that in it you see signs of progress. It is 
true that upon everything are written signs of the 
onward march of events, but in nothing more than 
in methods of railway enterprises. The trolley road 
is the latest. When I was a babe six weeks old 
there was not a foot of railroad of any kind on the 



THE TROLLEY RAILWAY 



171 



globe. What scenes we behold to-day in the prog- 
ress of railways. And while all this is true, what 
I have witnessed in the railway progress I have 
equally seen in the beauties of a moral and religious 
life with my fellow-travelers to eternity. It is true, 
from the introduction of the railway enterprise there 
have been increasing changes and improvements, but 
the name and object are always the same. So there 
may be changes in our outward life, but the one 
standard of a true Christian life by Jesus Christ is 
ever the same. Still further, the trolley road as it 
prosecutes its mission ever bears its men and patrons 
along loith expectation that they will arrive at the de- 
sired haven. This is in the nature of the case as 
sure as that they are on the road. This is likewise 
true of all who legitimately go on the progressive 
heavenly railway. It is sometimes called the celes- 
tial railway. I never knew a single person who 
chose this way by God^s direction who did not 
travel with the sweetest and most assured expecta- 
tion. May every railroad man who reads this chap- 
ter take passage by this route. 



CHAPTER XII 



THE ELEVATED RAILWAY 

THE elevated railway has not yet become largely 
known in this country ; but where it has been 
built and used it has become a favorite line. 
Strong foundations are laid, and upon it pillars are 
placed as supporters. Upon these are placed the 
plates, sleepers, and rails. Side tracks are arranged 
as upon other roads. The road is elevated over the 
streets and avenues of the city. The stations are 
placed at short intervals upon the cross streets, and 
are approached by stairways for the convenience of 
the passengers. The fare is usually a dime or a 
nickel, according to the hour of the day. With these 
arrangements there are great benefits for secular 
purposes, but there are in them also many sug- 
gestive lessons of importance in moral pursuits. 

The fact that this road is elevated gives it a distinc- 
tive difference fi^orn other roads. But in this differ- 
ence you see the simple significance of some moral 
lessons. Elevated. What an idea is couched in 
this one word. Elevation in position, be it upon 
the hillside, mountain, housetop, in the balloon, in 
wealth of land or sea, railroad stock, bank stock, 
telegraph stock, farms or merchandise, ship or gold 
172 



THE ELEVATED RAILWAY 



173 



mines, common school, academies, or collegiate edu- 
cation, in professional life or calling, either clerical, 
editorial, medical, or educational, in political life, 
from the humbler walks of the country stump ora- 
tor to the highest position of a ruler, in the mer- 
cantile trade, from a peanut stand to a store with 
millions of revenue, in religious life from the 
lowest experience of the present to the highest pin- 
nacle of professional grades among religionists, this 
word has its emphatic application. And as railroad 
men are so marked in their position of grades, and 
these usually obtained by promotion from one to the 
other, I think they may well understand many 
things which may be gathered from the moral as 
well as the secular lessons of the elevated railway. 
Everybody w^ants to have the benefits of elevation, 
yet comparatively few are willing to pay the cost. 
Who would not be happy ? And really what true 
happiness is there that does not cost the most ear- 
nest eflFort, and not unfrequently bitter struggles 
and sufferings ! Let the eminent men who to-day 
stand in high positions of confidence and honor an- 
swer. A momenfs thought will show you the nature 
of elevating travel contrasted. Let railroad men with 
their wives and children ponder well this view. 
Yea, let others see the illustrative beauty there is in 
thus traversing the path of elevating thought and 
habit. 

Your very first idea of an elevated railway is 
that it is above, and to ride upon it you must oc- 



174 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



cupy an elevated positiou. The thought of the pos- 
sibility that you can journey through the air is in- 
spiring. And it is elevating to the soul more and 
more as it is contemplated and sought after. The 
foundation is laid, the pillars are up, the plates are 
adjusted, the track is in place, engine and cars are 
ready for action, and you are bidden to ascend and 
ride. So in the varied lines and steps of life. 
Every man finds that a beneficent hand has laid for 
him a moral foundation, and built for him a super- 
structure for position and happiness. Inclination 
he may have to go on the lower grade, and travel 
along the road of unbelief, evil associations, sinful 
habits and practices, with the dissolute, the drunken 
and the profane, until he plunges into squalid mis- 
ery and wretchedness, but this does not change the 
nature of his opportunity. If he yields to this 
inclination it only enhances the nature of his folly. 
Better things he might have had. The passenger 
in the elevated car passes on his way in quiet and 
joy, glad, indeed, that he availed himself of his 
proflFered opportunity, while the other shares in the 
folly of his mistake, deploring his delusive course. 
Thousands ride on the elevated cars, and enjoy 
them for convenience and swiftness, while others 
travel on the road below. How like this is the 
moral course of man ! Thousands unwisely and 
sadly travel on the downv^ard road below, which is 
infinitely worse than street car, stage, or footpath. 
Because many good people are found in the street 



THE ELEVATED RAILWAY 



175 



car and stage, the comparison is unequal, but the 
good and the truly happy are never found in the low 
grades of immoral life. So while the elevated rail- 
way in position is illustrative of elevated character, 
descending to walk in the low path of vice has not 
one redeeming feature. Tiie contrast is striking, 
and when observed for moral improvement, the 
benefits wrought are infinite. 

And this road is better because higher than other 
roads. It gives ease, comfort, and quiet ; — indeed, 
is above the bustle and turmoil of life. You glide 
on to your destination without obstructions or diffi- 
culties in the way. So is the privilege of all who 
take the narrow road laid out by the Saviour of 
men. 

Trials the passengers may have, but even with 
these the road is smooth and delightful. These 
joys may be unseen, but nevertheless real. The 
world does not produce an instance to falsify the 
blessed declaration of Holy Writ, Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, 
because he trusteth in thee.'^ This is true in prac- 
tice, experience, and character. It is true in all the 
walks of life, in old age, in youth, in professional 
and business life. It is a fact that cannot be gain- 
said. It is like journeying upon the elevated rail- 
way; beneath and all around there may be the noise 
and bustle of life, but you sit and ride on in quiet- 
ness. So with such a mind, there may be trials and 
rough experiences of life without, but all is quiet 



176 



THAT EAILROAD MAN 



and peace within. This is the elevation man needs. 
But how many think to smooth the waves of a 
tempest-tossed soul by arranging the outward mat- 
ters. On this is always written failure. Every 
scheme to this end that has ever been attempted 
other than in righteousness has proved a failure. 
And while I strongly sympathize with working 
classes everywhere, I have observed that methods 
like strikes and their kindred measures to regulate 
fancied or real wrongs among railroad men have 
only embittered and impoverished the men, to say 
nothing of other sad, demoralizing influences which 
invariably attend them. These methods never ele- 
vate, pecuniarily or morally. And I believe that 
the masses of railroad workmen are fast learning 
that there is a better way of adjusting grievances. 
We live to learn. And happy is the man who 
learns the elevated way. 

Jast here let me add that whoever rides on the ele- 
vated railway must personally ascend to his place. 
This is a significant fact, and you will do well to 
take heed to its lesson. No person can expect to 
stand at the foot of the steps upon the lower grade, 
and by some benevolent-minded person be carried 
up the elevation, placed in the chair, and whirled 
along through the air in ease and quiet without 
helping himself. No more can a man expect to 
have his morals elevated without earnest personal 
endeavor. You must ascend personally. Every 
ill thought and evil way must be resisted and you 



THE ELEVATED RAILWAY 177 

must climb. There is no other way. There are 
many noble railway men to-day who fill places of 
prominence and trust. But they had to endure 
hard and earnest struggles and go up step by step. 
This is not only true in positions of a worldly char- 
acter, but in grand Christian life there are not a 
few. Many of them I know personally. Several 
years ago, while holding meetings in an Eastern city, 
I learned of a number of railway men — conductor, 
engineer, and others — who held a daily prayer 
meeting between trains. They would come up 
from Boston with a steamboat train and, having an 
hour or two of leisure, w^ould hold a prayer meet- 
ing before returning with passengers from the in- 
coming boat. This meeting had an immense in- 
fluence upon the men themselves and the community 
around. It lifted up character and life, and its 
power is greatly felt to this day. In a large rail- 
way corporation in Ohio, a few months ago, an order 
was issued that every man afterward found in a 
saloon or drinking liquors should be forthwith dis- 
charged. This was a grand thing. Thousands of 
men could but be in a measure elevated by this 
order. To be sure, the saloon-keepers at once be- 
gan to say their rights were assailed. What rights? 
Who does not know that every influence of the sa- 
loon is debasing? And what right has any man to 
do a thing to his own or others' injury? Legaliz- 
ing an act by human laws will not stamp it as right 
when it has not in its qualities the first element of 

I.I 



178 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



righteousness. These are only snares. Men every- 
where want and need to be elevated in heart and 
life. Let us help them to this. But with all other 
helps there must be personal effort to attain. What 
if all the men in the corporation above referred to 
had said^ We are glad of the order^ and will per- 
sonally at once and forever spurn the saloon ? It 
would have raised them in the scale of high esteem 
and elevated character with themselves and others. 

And besides all other considerations ^ the elevated 
railway has a terminus to ichieh travelers are borne, 
"It is a long road that has no turn/' is an old ad- 
age. But the traveler is always anxious to know 
whither his journey will lead. And none are more 
so than travelers to eternity. One thing is certain, 
you have no reason to believe you will arrive in the 
world of light and joy, if all your journey in this 
life is made toward the city of destruction. I know 
full well that many seem to think that even if they 
do travel on the low grade of a prayerless life, of 
unbelief and sin, vice and habitual wrong, and utter 
carelessness as to any preparation for heaven, they 
will end their journey in the heavenly paradise. 
How can it be ? Certainly God is pure and holy, 
and so are all beings in heaven. Then there can 
be no hope of joining that throng unless you 
travel on the highway that leads there. Ascend, 
then, if you are not already there, the elevated way 
which is by the way of the cross of Jesus, and take 
your seat in the divine chariot which will bear you 



THE ELEVATED RAILWAY 



179 



up to the shining realms of bliss. As the weary 
traveler may be seen taking his seat in the car upon 
the elevated railway and borne onward and upward 
above the bustle, noise, turmoils, cares, and strifes 
in the world below, to his earthly home of wife, 
children, and happiness, so the traveling pilgrim to 
the better land, after setting his face like a flint 
against sin, evil habits, and vice, and turning away 
from bad associations, and thus escaping the lusts 
and dangers that are in the world, with heart, char- 
acter, and life built up in the elevations of a 
chariot of purity and blessing, will pass onward 
to the goal of reunions and heavenly blessedness 
in the great redeemed family to which he belongs. 
Who would not join the throng and journey on this 
line? 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE RAILAVAY STATIONS 

"VrOTHING can be more illustrative of a man's 
-Li journey through this world and frequent de- 
tentions than the railway stations. Stations for con- 
venience and rest he must have. And in his im- 
perative needs^ when he finds them, they are a very 
great benefit. Therefore in the design of these 
pages and in the light of the foregoing chapters I 
wish now to bring home to your hearts some im- 
portant lessons and blessings. 

Raihcay stations are designed to accommodate all 
classes of persons, old and young, sick and well, the 
weak and the strong, the learned and ignorant, the 
happy and the unhappy, the rich and the poor, the 
high and the low, the black and the white. All 
conceivable classes of mankind are found passing 
through railroad stations. So in the gospel to bless 
and save men, not only has God made a large and 
free provision for all who wnll to receive a crown of 
life, but ever since the fall of man thousands and 
millions, of Avhom some are in heaven and some on 
earth, have accepted his proffers and are happy. 
In his infallible and unchanging word God says 
whosoever will may. And through this station of 
180 



THE RAILWAY STATIONS 



181 



his free redemption by the cross, vast numbers have 
already boarded the train to the better land. 

Every railway station has its peculiar features and 
surroundings. This you will readily see. So there 
are peculiar experiences in the moral stations of 
every man's life. Conviction is one point. Often he 
is convicted of sin and wrong-doing. This is one 
of the first steps in getting a right heart. And wise 
is that man who stops at this station. It is always 
a good road to travel^ and a good place to stop and 
consider. Who ever heard of anybody giving at- 
tention to honest convictions of sin, in his heart, who 
afterward regretted it? The trouble is, so many 
pass their convictions with careless indifference. 
Did you ever know a passenger to carelessly pass a 
station where he ought to stop? If so, you know it 
put him to inconvenience and made him much 
trouble. Infinitely more so is it with those who 
will not observe the convictions of their hearts to 
repent of sin, seek holiness, and obtain the highest 
degree of moral blessings. Will all who read these 
lines take heed ? 

There is another station on this route^ and that is 
repentance. This is a station of no mean character. 
Bitter may be the experience of those who stop here 
for a little time, but this will be like the clouds and 
tempest just before the sunshine. God hath said to 
you and me, " Except ye repent, ye shall all like- 
wise perish.^^ Remember this declaration is divine, 
and will not be revoked. True repentance is godly 



182 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



sorrow for sin and wrong. It is sorrow in your 
heart toward your God^ for sin, for every wrong 
thing you have said or done against him or in his 
sight. And how many multitudes have been won- 
derfully blessed and made happy in their hearts 
while they stopped at this station of thought to 
ponder and consider. Will you give this personal 
attention and consideration ? 

Another station in this journey, is faith in the blood 
of Jesus. As you approach this point you behold 
things of intense interest. Here all the vast hosts 
of heaven have passed. You stop and are at once 
filled with solemn awe. You remember that proph- 
ets, priests, and kings, and all the great men of past 
ages who have died in glorious triumph have stood 
upon this spot, and from this have passed on to the 
celestial city. 

The unbelief of this wicked world I know would 
fain obliterate this thought. It would send a cy- 
clone of destruction to sweep it out of existence. 
But this cannot be done. God will not permit it. 
Yea, the testimonies of blessing in all ages for the 
blood of Jesus will ever compel men to confide in 
the perpetuity of this way. And if you avail your- 
self of a tarrying time and of restful faith at this 
station, you will be blessed and eternally saved. 
The blood of the cross is the great watchword of 
the age, liberalism and infidelity to the contrary, 
notwithstanding. And from this point shine all 
the bright rays of the sun of righteousness. Stand, 



THE RAILWAY STATIONS 



183 



dear reader, in its radiant light and let it shine on 
thee. It is a station of blessing, and by faith you 
may be blessed. 

Just beyond this, is the station of prayer and com- 
munion with God, I know large numbers of rail- 
road men who pray, yes, and those whose families 
join with them in this delightful experience. And 
such have been able to understand the meaning of 
that old poetic strain : 

Altho' I may never revisit the shade, 
Full oft shall I think of the vows 1 have made, 
And when at a distance, my mind will repair 
To the place where my Saviour first answered my 
prayer. 

How potent the thought, and what interests of in- 
tense moment cluster around the station of prayer. 
Myriads are on earth and millions are in heaven 
who review with delight the places where they have 
met to pray and to commune Avith God. And 
doubtless many a railway president, superintendent, 
engineer, conductor, or men of other departments, 
Avhile looking over these lines will call to memory 
the old home days when parents went with them to 
prayer. Hallowed and joyous memories indeed. 
May they be blessed to the refreshing of thy soul. 
Yea more, if thou hast a family, may they be lived 
over in reality in thine own home. 

There is also a station of no small significance at 
which to tarry awhile and consider the joy and hope 
of a believing heart. Those who have tried this ex- 



184 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



perimentally know what I mean. Joy and hope ! 
Treasure laid up in heaven ! To stop on thy pil- 
grimage journey and think of the joy and hope that 
are possessed in tlie believing heart is an unspeak- 
able privilege. Sometimes at the railway station 
thou hast very costly treasures stored for a time. 
So also thy joy and hope in Jesus may linger for a 
time in this world. And at this juncture they are 
comforting and blessed realities. They really ante- 
date the day when you will arrive at home. This 
is not the end of the journey, but it is a way 
station. 

Nevertheless, as you gather the scenes and expe- 
riences around you it is only a reminder of what 
awaits you a little farther on. As you behold the 
re-union of friends, the living tokens of friendship, 
the hopes realized and exhibitions of joy unspeak- 
able, your every impulse of soul anticipates the 
journey^s end where there will be no more stations 
of earthly experiences to pass. 

And this brings me to give one glance at the station 
of heaven. With travelers upon the railway it is 
often true that one station in attractiveness and 
beauty far exceeds all other places. It is home. 
The journey may have been long and tedious. 
Weary and lonesome hours may have been experi- 
enced. Absence by you and also by the dear ones 
at home, may have been keenly felt. You have 
longed for the day to come when you would take 
passage upon the cars. Every station you passed 



THE RATLAVAY STATIONS 



185 



was nothing to yon. Yon were anxions that no ac- 
cident shonld occnr to hnrt or detain yon ; every 
thonght entered into that one dear spot when the 
whistle should sound and the bell ring to signal your 
approach to the desired goal, and the train halt 
and slowly draw you up to the station of your loved 
home. Do you think this interest and anticipation 
could be any less in a sainted one passing along the 
rough stations of this beautiful, yet sin-cursed world 
to the end of the journey in the heavenly station ? 
If the places of joy, prayer, faith in the blood, hope. 
Christian intercourse, labor m the gospel, yea, hal- 
lowed efforts to bless those we love and often seeing 
them join our train, and the very many things along 
our route to enhance our joy and remind us of near- 
ing the city of unsullied bliss be so much, what can 
the reality be at the end ? But that station is be- 
fore all who in holiness will travel this route, and, 
when reached with its unimagined bliss in the re- 
unions of those who have gone before, and, sharing 
in the indescribable realities, it will cause to sink 
into forgetfulness all calamities and roughnesses 
over which we have traveled, for it is heaven. 



CHAPTER XIV 



THE TRUNK RAILWAY LINES 

THE prominent idea of a trunk line railway is 
found in the superior features of its position 
and advantages. And in this there is resemblance 
to the character of man. He is distinguished from 
all other earthly beings by his great capacities. 
There is found with the trunk railway, power and 
influence that control men. Hence Ave see that 
these lines are great in the magnitude of their charac- 
ter and icorh. 

Their various branches with very many miles, 
their numerous engines and cars, the great advan- 
tages of mail and express service, together with the 
immense force of power embraced in their many 
officers and workmen, present to the mind a cor- 
porate body of commanding position. Its felt 
power is of no mean character. So with man. In 
whatever capacity you find him in life he is mighty 
in the resources of his genius. This is his nature 
and character. The Bible is a Avonderful guide to 
attest this fact. Indeed, whatever may be said to 
the contrary, we are dependent upon the Bible to 
know man, his character and power. Other helps 
there are, but they are secondary. Philosophy and 

186 



THE TRU^sK RAILWAY LINES 



187 



science, it is true, help his development. They un- 
fold the powers and breadth of his gifts. All the 
network of his being has its vital connections. 
One part cannot act Avithout the other. Every 
power as a part of the great whole is brought into 
requisition constantly. Like the trunk railway, 
where every branch track, every station, every 
ticket office and freight house, every engine and car, 
every switch and rail, every flag and lantern, and 
even to the smallest things connected with the 
corporation, all are found important in its work, so 
man is constantly employed in every part of his 
being to perform his life-callings. Yea, as each 
man, from the president down, must fill his place, so 
we are made to feel in our every capacity our rela- 
tions to life. Small parts may be found, but when 
standing related to other parts they are not small, 
after all. They are all needed to make up the 
great whole. Hence the felt power which is so 
formidable in all this system of railway lines. How 
suggestive this is of the real power and genius of 
man. He is fearfully and wonderfully made.^' 
True, some persons, individually considered, are of 
small account, but when considered as a part of the 
great brotherhood of man, what a mighty creature 
he is. In no conceivable way can there be even a 
reasonable comparison to his worth and might. 

And in the light of this let vie say, trunk raihvay 
lines carry large responsibUities. This is unavoid- 
able in the nature of the case. They comprise a 



188 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



system of living activities and responsibilities. And 
the larger the corporation, the more dollars invested, 
and the more miles controlled, the more their re- 
sponsibility. Whatever they may have done for 
themselves, it is true the sovereign will of the peo- 
ple gave them creation and birth. They were per- 
mitted to exist that they might be the servants of 
the people. This was the sole object. It is true 
that a few men might have incorporated themselves 
together with the expectation of wealth. But if the 
service of the people had been left out of account, 
there could be no possible returns of wealth. In 
the same light the immense powers and resources in 
man must bear very great moral responsibilities. 
Whatever he may have had to do with his own 
creation, there must have been a higher and sover- 
eign power in his creation and birth. He was made 
to subserve a higher one than himself. In this 
service he may, it is true, be made unspeakably 
happy, even as the railway may acquire wealth ; but, 
nevertheless, he has a great responsibility. This he 
cannot avoid. We often hear much about I am 
independent and can do as I please.'^ Yes, but this 
is false. No man can do this. Not one railway 
corporation in the land can act to any great extent 
independently of the others. It may be attempted, 
but failure is certain. They must keep hold of the 
hands of each other and of the hands of the peo- 
ple. So with man. Not one man, be he ever so 
learned or wealthy, can stand alone. Nor is it true 



THE TRUNK RAILWAY LINES 189 



that he is barely dependent upon or responsible to 
his fellow-nian. Every gift and talent within him 
is a network of dependence and responsibility. 
One cannot act without the other. But just here 
lies the relationship which is higher than that of 
any material relation. It is your responsibility to 
God^ your Creator. This you cannot avoid. Are 
not the railway employees responsible to the presi- 
dent and higher powers ? And can they be less so 
to a higher than he? The very fact and nature of 
your soul compels this conclusion. How then it 
becomes every one of you to well consider and act 
wisely for present and eternal welfare. 

Another thing m this illustration of these lines is, 
that their record must be reported. Every depart- 
ment of their work must be reported to a higher 
power. There is a headship^ and to this all the 
activities of the road are amenable. This is un- 
avoidable in the nature of the case. From the 
lower grades of workmen to the official, be it su- 
perintendent, manager, or president, all are ac- 
countable for their actions and trusts. But the 
marked feature is that the accountability is per- 
sonal. The president cannot render account for 
the manager, nor the superintendent for the con- 
ductor, the laborer with the repairing gang cannot 
for the engineer, nor can the switchman render ac- 
count for the treasurer or director. Each and all 
must give account for himself, for the time spent 
and the way in which he has conducted the work or 



190 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



duties of his office. So every man in the great af- 
fairs of life must render an account of the way in 
which he has discharged his duties and privileges. 
-There will be no exemption from this. The wife, 
the husband, and every child of railway families, 
who has come to years of responsibility, must pass 
the solemn or joyful test of account to God ; sol- 
emn, if unfaithfulness has characterized your work, 
but joyful if you have faithfully and well discharged 
your duties to your God. Carelessness about this 
matter will not change its requirements. The in- 
fallible divine requirement is that every one shall 
give an account of himself to God.'' Your every 
moral power then should be spent in this world 
in reference to this great future account. 

hi the make-up of these lines their influence is very 
strong and salutary. How like this is the record of 
Christianity. There may be various lines and 
branches, but all these form a great whole. So with 
different churches, schools, and reformatory institu- 
tions. Yea, this is true in the various spheres and 
relations of our home life. In our highly favored 
land the salutary influences of Christianity are im- 
peratively felt in a greater or less degree in every 
avenue of the home circle. Where is there a place 
throughout the country where the influence of each 
and all of the trunk railway lines are not directly 
or indirectly felt? This but feebly illustrates the 
bearing of our moral relations. Christianity is a 
felt power, and when recognized is an untold blessing. 



CHAPTER XV 



THE EAILWAY UNION STATION 

NION is one of the leading features of human 



^ life. Men incline to band together in their 
varied enterprises and relations. In some form 
they want partnership. And in this there is a won- 
derful significance in the recognition of corporate 
bodies. This mutual relationship must have had a 
central beginning. And there can be no doubt it 
was fully recognized in the creation of man. 

God said, Let us make man in our own image.'^ 
In this he had reference to the trinity of the God- 
head. In the sacred relation of the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost, was the union of all that 
is good in creation. So, on the other hand the 
devil, with Adam and Eve for his subjects, formed 
an alliance in that which was evil. Thus has been 
the march through the ages past. Holiness with 
its blessings has been perpetuated by mutual en- 
deavor. Men have banded together in love, sym- 
pathy, and labor. Sin, with all its works of dark- 
ness, has preyed upon the hearts of men by a union 
of strength among the wicked. Hence union is 
seen in domestic circles, business marts, and in- 
deed, all secular and moral relations in the world. 




191 



192 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



In the union station many roads usually meet 
Likewise in a moral sense different nationalities, 
churches, reforms, and experiences are united. In 
whatever church or place Christians are found, their 
heart experience in religion is one. In the inter- 
ests of several railway corporations a combination 
is formed to unite the various tracks and lines that 
lead into the city. Here their different interests 
are to center. Trains run side by side and mingle 
in mutual interests. Officers and workmen seem 
to have common sympathy in prosecuting the work 
of their lines. Passengers of all grades and ages, 
all tongues and peoples, here make common cause 
in the interests of their pilgrimage. They have 
mutual sympathy and anxiousness in getting the 
right ticket, being on the right train, and at the 
right time. 

Often many persons are found waiting with 
wearied and anxious hearts the arrival of dear 
friends. And so there are seen here immense union 
interests. Similar are the scenes witnessed all along 
the pathway of this life in the varied institutions 
of religion and reform. They are mutual in their 
relations. Indeed, the arena of this world is one 
vast union station for pilgrims to the heavenly 
home. It is an asylum for the sainted hosts of 
God. Here subjects of the heavenly King of all 
dialects and customs, yet one in heart, congregate 
in an onward march. The English and American, 
the French and the German, the Russian and the 



THE RAILWAY UNION STATION 193 

African, the black and the white, the rich and the 
poor, the legalist, the profligate, the wicked, the 
abandoned, with moral needs and interests alike, 
here meet at the cross of Jesus to be saved by his 
blood. Yea more, all who thus unite and believe 
they themselves are saved, are at once enlisted to 
see others gathered into the heavenly way. In this 
vast array of pilgrims there are found many repre- 
sentatives of all creeds, churches, experiences, and 
reforms. There is truly a union station for all. 
Here they can find sympathy and love. Railroad 
men can here, with farmers, blacksmiths, merchants, 
carpenters, bankers, shoemakers, editors, educators, 
and colliers, mutually, with all others, find a place. 
There is for them ample room and blessing. No 
other class can have preference before them. There 
is no caste here, whatever the outward garb of 
appearance ; all are one in heart and experience. 
There is no respect of persons with God. A lov- 
ing, believing, and obedient heart is what he re- 
quires. In a word, to be a true Christian by the 
blood of Jesus is the one qualification to pass the 
gate into the union station of the kingdom of his 
grace. Tliere is not a man, or his wife, or his 
child, upon the railway lines of our land, from the 
president down, who may not enter this gate and 
travel the pilgrim way. Certainly they are in- 
cluded in the great whosoever. It is their privi- 
lege to join, in this great central place, with the 
throng of a world's believers. 

N 



194 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



It will also be seen that in union stations long lines 
meet. Often hundreds and sometimes thousands of 
miles are traveled to reach the station. Long jour- 
neys are made with a strong expectation to arrive at 
this place. So in the pilgrimage of men here to- 
ward the heavenly goal. At times they travel a long 
and tedious journey before they reach the place of 
true happiness. Sin has well-nigh made their lives 
a wreck^ but they escape and enter the city of ref- 
uge. Others have a happy but weary pilgrimage. 
Their hearts are joyous but they are plagued with 
sin and the enemies of God and holiness, until they 
arrive at the blessed goal of the great blood-washed 
throng. Here they are happy in their deliverance 
and, associated with all the pilgrims of every age 
and clime, will spend an eternity of praise. 

It is furthermore obsei^ved that here much care is 
taken to form mutual connections. One or many 
trains arrive, and others depart. They seek to ac- 
commodate each other in forming connections in 
time of arriving and departing. They have mu- 
tual pleasure in this. And in this they are help- 
ful to each other^s prosperity. No picture could 
better illustrate the mutual relations and destinies 
of Christians and all works of reform. They travel 
and labor hand in hand. 

As all railways must form connections one with 
the other, so it is a vital condition of religious re- 
forms that there must be mutual strength. They 
must realize that they are all one in Christ Jesus.'^ 



THE RAILWAY UNION STATION 195 

Whatever may be said of this to the contrary by 
way of divisions of sects and castes, there is one 
place where all plans of redemption and all works 
of reform meet. It is at the cross. All evan- 
gelical churches, all true plans of reform, and all 
works of philanthropy which have the divine sanc- 
tion, meet here. They form a connection with all 
trains that bring sinful and suffering ones home in 
the pilgrimage of the blessed. 

Political, temperance, and educational reforms, 
cannot be separated from the true church. By 
church I mean those who are saved by the blood of 
Jesus, and that alone. This is the only reliable 
foundation of all moral experience. 

In this, then, all connections that bless the world 
are made. 

And every man who shares in the blessed posi- 
tion of a true reformer must recognize his depend- 
ence upon this relation. He can never stand in 
power without it. With it he will find great hap- 
piness to himself, and be a great blessing to others. 

Yea more, he will conduct them into the haven of 
the blessed. What a scene presents itself to the 
vision of the MEN OF TO-DAY in this particular. 
There is a world of reformers joined in a mighty 
oneness of faith. Never since the world was made, 
and the fall of the human race, and the introduc- 
tion of the wondrous plan of human redemption, 
has been witnessed such union of activities to bless 
the world. Churches of all names by the tens of 



196 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



thousands, nearly fourteen hundred Young Men's 
Christian Associations, in which are included very 
many especially for railroad men, in this country 
besides large numbers in Europe and other parts of 
the world ; missionary societies almost without num- 
ber, carrying the gospel to the very ends of the 
earth ; temperance organizations, and every conceiv- 
able means of reform are scattered throughout the 
world to elevate and bless men. What a union of 
strength. And all in the oneness of godliness from 
close connections. 

But let it be remembered while this is true, there 
must be individual relations. While immense 
trains and numbers of cars enter the union station, 
every car must have its own individual union with 
the others, and with the train. Not one car can 
move with the train unless it has a coupling con- 
nection. So it is in this matter of our standing for 
our welfare in eternity. There must be a personal 
relation with Jesus. Churches may be all around 
you, your path may be dotted with reform societies, 
and many hallowed influences thrown about you, 
but all cannot make you what you should be in 
heart unless you have personal faith in Jesus, per- 
sonal repentance for sin, and the personal applica- 
tion of the cleansing blood of Jesus to your soul. 

I wish to add one thought more in closing this 
analogy. At the union station many are made to re- 
joice that they have reached their journey^ s end in 
safety f while still others rejoice to meet dear loved ones. 



THE RAILWAY UNION STATION 197 



Train after train arrives, bringing wearied dusty 
passengers who are glad, indeed, that they have 
reached their destination. It is a relief to their 
tired bodies. Possibly too, they have escaped some 
threatening accident, at the thought of which they 
marvel that they were not the subjects of swift de- 
struction. They are glad of a safe arrival and pos- 
sibly grateful to God for his kind preservation, 
while still others wait with anxiousness the com- 
ing of loved and long-absent ones. They come. 
With what delight they embrace and greet each 
other. Joy and gladness fill every avenue of the 
heart. Thus heaven will be the place of gladness 
to wearied travelers, and joy in the reunions of 
those who have gone before. 

How significant is the thought in connection Avith 
those who arrive in the large union station in this 
world, and those who enter the paradise of God 
after the wearied journey of their earthly pilgrim- 
age. They travel on amid the hindrances of the 
world. The burdens of life are heavy ; the stings 
of sin have been keenly felt ; the sicknesses, pains, 
sorrows, and disappointments of the pilgrimage have 
been many. What a relief to be gathered home. 
Yet amid all this the journey has been fraught with 
sweet experiences and fond anticipations. Painful 
and trying as is the Christian pilgrimage in this 
world, it is not without its joys and rich assurances, 
and on arriving home the fullness is realized. And 
then the joys of the reunions are untold. Hus- 



198 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



bands^ wives, parents, and children and dear friends 
may be long separated, but the reunion is sweetly 
anticipated. How many have waited at the large 
union station to see the trains arrive from different 
localities and directions, and bring the loved ones. 
Often they watch with anxious hearts, and some- 
times with deep and tearful interest to catch the 
first look of those they love. Infinitely more do 
those upon earth and those in the heavenly land 
look for the reuniting when they shall forever be 
with the Lord. Saints of all ages, from all climes, 
and from all ranks of society, will meet there. 
How many families of railroad men Avill be repre- 
sented there amid the nations of the earth. There 
presidents will greet wives and children ; managers 
and the loved departed ones will once more and for- 
ever meet each other ; superintendents will know 
the joys of reunion on the heavenly shore ; engi- 
neers who have sped many an anxious heart along 
with lightning speed to meet dear ones on earth, 
will noAV be wafted to the embrace of precious ones 
above ; conductors who have conducted many a 
traveler in this world, will now be conducted to a 
seat at God's right hand, where they will not only 
sit down with the prophets, apostles, and angels, 
but with dear ones gone before ; brakemen, switch- 
men, flagmen, and workmen from all ranks of rail- 
way life, will find a place in the sweet by and by,^' 
amid the shouts and reunions of the glory land. 
In the great union station in New York a trav- 



THE RAILWAY UJS^ION STATION 



199 



eler approached the gate with ticket in hand. 
While waiting his turn to pass, he observed that 
some aliead of him were greatly annoyed because 
the gate-keeper insisted tiiat they should show their 
tickets. Profane words and ugly looks were poured 
upon him. As my friend, the waiting traveler, 
passed the gate-keeper, he remarked : You are 
not very popular with some of these travelers.^^ 
Popular at headquarters,'^ was the winning 
and worthy reply. These were grand words and 
worthy of imitation by every one who would be 
right. And infinitely so in reference to his relation 
to God. In these days, when there is so much ca- 
tering to the popular notions of men, how much 
need there is that every man stand right with God, 
if he stand alone. 

Would you then enter the great union station of 
God's paradise, where you may be happy forever, 
seek above all things to be popular at head- 
quarters/^ 



CHAPTER XVI 



VITAL RAILWAY BENEFITS 

IN the closing chapter of this book^ which I have 
made for the special benefit of railroad men 
and their homes, I wish to give an experience, a 
touching incident, and a song that I am sure will be 
a blessing to all who read and sing them. 

A Ticket Agenfs Conversion. 

I came with the Wagner Palace Car Company in May, 
1886, and, after working a year in the general office, I 
went into the company's ticket office at the Grand Cen- 
tral Station, where Mr. Fenno was agent. I had been 
there a couple of years, and had been '^one of the 
boys,'' as some of you know, when the life I had been 
leading began to get me into trouble. Sin always gets 
a fellow into trouble sooner or later, and I found out 
that I could not put in my time drinking and gambling 
without suffering the consequences. Trouble made me 
drink the harder, and one Monday noon when I went to 
work I was not in condition for service, for I had been 
drinking pretty hard, and Mr. Fenno advised me to go 
away and get sober. I went to a drugstore and got 
something to fix me up, and from there I went to the 
Railroad Men's Building, where I hoped to have a few 
hours' rest. Mr. D. C. Gilmore was librarian then, and 
as I sat down in the library he came over to me, and, 
pulling up a chair, he sat down and said: **Do you 
200 



VITAL RAILWAY BENEFITS 201 



know you remind me of the young man of whom Christ 
said, ' Thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven ' ? 
''Well/' said I, ''my friend, I guess you don't know 
what you are talking about.'' "Yes, I do," said he; 
"you reminded me of that young man when you came 
in the library." So we talked awhile, until finally I 
told him I did not care anything about religion, and 
that the reason I was there was because I was not sober 
enough to go to work, and if that was being near the 
kingdom, then I did not know anything about it, and I 
got up to leave the place. He assured me that I might 
be much nearer the kingdom than I thought, and said 
that I knew I ought to be a Christian, but Avas unwill- 
ing to do what I knew to be right, and he said he hoped 
I wouldn't have any peace until I decided the matter. 
Well, I left the place and walked the streets, but I 
couldn't get rid of the conversation, and by and by I 
w^ent back to work. I went home that night without 
drinking anything, and the next day and the next night 
I did not drink anything, either ; but I couldn't get rid 
of the thought that I ought to be a Christian and give 
up the habits which had been a curse to me. I had 
drunk steadily for five years, and though I tried to give 
it up, had never succeeded in doing so for more than a 
month at a time. A day or two after my talk with Mr. 
Gilmore, while I was on duty, I happened to think that 
Mr. Fenno kept a Testament in the office — one that his 
mother gave him — and I rummaged through his desk 
until I found it. I had heard of the precious promises 
it contained, but I did not know Avhere to look for them, 
and couldn't find a thing that had any comfort in it. 

So it went on till Friday of that week. My wife had 
noticed that something was on my mind, but I had said 
nothing about the true state of affairs. But I had been 
home sober every night, which was something I had not 
done for six weeks. Well, Friday morning I sat in my 



202 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



easy-chair at home, for I did not go on duty till one 
o'clock, and I had thought the matter pretty thor- 
oughly over and there seemed to be no other way out of 
it but for me to become a Christian. I couldn't get rid 
of the question, for from the time I got up until I went 
to bed I could think of little else. I had not said a 
word to any one about it, though I thought of speaking 
to Mr. Fenno, for I had worked with him for two years 
and I knew that he was living the Christian life ; but I 
couldn't bring myself to speak of it to anybody until 
this morning when my wife came into the room where I 
was sitting, when I said to her : ''Do you knoAV that I 
am going straight to hell ? " "You are drinking a great 
deal,'' she answered. "Well,'' said I, "I will never 
give it up unless I become a Christian. I've tried, as 
you know, and it's no use. If I try to be a Christian 
will you begin with me?" for she was not a professing 
Christian. She gladly said she Avould, so we knelt down 
right there and I prayed that God would accept me for 
Jesus' sake and help me to live right. That afternoon 
as Mr. Fenno and I were selling for "Number Five" I 
called over to him at his window and asked him if he 
could stay that evening instead of going home, as I 
wanted to talk with him. He said he could if it was 
important, but that he was to lead a prayer meeting at 
Morris Heights and did not want to miss his engage- 
ment. After a good deal of stammering, for I did not 
like to confess what I had done, I told him that I was 
thinking of becoming a Christian, and wanted to talk it 
over with him. "Well," said he, "it isn't necessary 
for me to miss a prayer meeting on that account, for all 
you've got to do is to believe in Christ and confess him 
before men; are you willing to do that?" I had not 
thought of confessing, and I said I would like to talk it 
over with him, but he said I did not need to talk it over 
with any one, but that I must make an immediate sur- 



VITAL RAILWAY BENEFITS 203 



render of myself to Christ, and must confess him openly, 
and he said, " Don't you wait till the last bell strikes, 
but decide now/' The five minute bell had struck and 
we were both selling tickets as fast as we could, the con- 
versation going on as we worked. ''Just say ' I will,' " 
he called over to me, and after another struggle with 
pride and fear and doubt, I answered, I will." 

I don't know whether my Christian life began that 
morning on my knees, or at the ticket window that af- 
ternoon, but I know that it has brought many blessings to 
my home and has made a man of me. I began the new 
life in weakness and had to pray daily to be kept from 
the old habits, but each day brought its help and grace 
for the day's needs, and now I can truthfully say that 
all of happiness there is in my life, the good friends 
which I have made, my home and all that I hold dear, 
are mine because of the goodness of God and because of 
the power that comes to those who believe in Jesus 
Christ. 

The following thrillingly related railroad incident 
which actually occurred should prove a blessing to 
every reader of this book : 

" Does this Railroad Lead to Heaven f ^' 

In traveling we often meet with persons of different 
nationalities and languages ; we also meet with incidents 
of various character, some sorrowful, and others joyful 
and instructive. One of the latter character I witnessed 
recently while traveling upon the cars. The train was 
going west, and the time was evening. At a station a 
little girl about eight years old came aboard, carrying a 
budget under her arm. She came into the car and de- 
liberately took a seat. She then commenced an eager 
scrutiny of faces, but all were strange to her. She ap- 



204 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



pea red weary, and placing her budget for a pillow, she 
prepared to try and secure a little sleep. Soon the con- 
ductor came along collecting tickets and fare. Observing 
him, she asked him if she might lie there. The gentle- 
manl}^ conductor replied that she might, and then kindly 
asked for her ticket. She informed him that she had 
none, when the following conversation ensued. Said 
the conductor : 

''Where are you going?" 

"I am going to heaven,'' she answered. 

"Who pays your fare ? " he asked again. 

She then said, "Mister, does this railroad lead to 
heaven, and does Jesus travel on it?" 

"I think not," he answered. "Why did you think 
so?" 

' ' Why sir, before my mamma died she used to sing to 
me of a heavenly railroad, and you looked so nice and 
kind that I thought this was the road. My mamma 
used to sing of Jesus on the heavenly railroad, and that 
he paid the fare for everybody, and that the train stopped 
at every station to take people on board ; but my mam- 
ma don't sing to me any more. Nobody sings to me 
now ; and I thought I'd take the cars and go to mamma. 
Mister, do you sing to your little girl about the railroad 
that goes to heaven? You have a little girl, haven't 
you?" 

He replied, weeping, "No, my little dear, I have no 
little girl now. I had one once, but she died some time 
ago, and went to heaven." 

' ' Did she go over this railroad, and are you going to 
see her now ? " she asked. 

By this time every person in the coach was upon their 
feet, and most of them were weeping. An attempt to 
describe what I witnessed is almost futile. Some said : 
"God bless the little girl." Hearing some person say 
that she was an angel, the little girl earnestly replied : 



VITAL KAILWAY BENEFITS 205 



Yes, my mamma used to say that I would be an angel 
some time.^' 

Addressing herself once more to the conductor, she 
asked him, "Do you love Jesus? I do, and if you love 
him, he will let you ride to heaven on his railroad. I 
am going there, and I wish you would go wdth me. I 
know Jesus will let me into heaven when I get there, 
and he will let you in too, and everybody that will ride 
on his railroad — yes, all these people. Wouldn't you 
like to see heaven and Jesus and your little girl ? ' ' 

These words, so pathetically and innocently uttered, 
brought a great gush of tears from all eyes, but most 
profusely from those of the conductor. Some who were 
traveling on the heavenly railroad shouted aloud for 
joy. 

She now asked the conductor: "Mister, may I lie 
here until w^e get to heaven 

"Yes, dear, yes," he answered. 

"Will you wake me up then, so that I may see my 
mamma and your little girl and Jesus? she asked "for 
I do so much want to see them all.'' 

The answer came in broken accents, but in words 
very tenderly spoken : "Yes, dear angel, yes. God bless 
you." "Amen ! " was sobbed by more than a score of 
voices. 

Turning her eyes again upon the conductor, she inter- 
rogated him again : "What shall I tell your little girl 
when I see her? Shall I tell her that I saw her papa on 
Jesus' railroad? Shall I?" 

This brought a fresh flood of tears from all present, 
and the conductor knelt by her side, and, embracing 
her, wept the reply he could not utter. At this juncture 

the brakeman called out: ''H ." The conductor 

arose and requested him to attend to his (the conduc- 
tor's) duty at the station, for he was engaged. That was 
a precious place. I thank God that I was a witness to 



206 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



this scene, but I was sorry that at this point I was 
obliged to leave the train. 

We learn from this incident that out of the mouths of 
even babes God hath ordained strength, and that we 
ought to be willing to represent the cause of our blessed 
Jesus even in a railroad coach. 

THE SEQUEL. 

Kev. Dosh : I wish to relieve my heart by writing to 
you, and saying that that angel visit on the cars w^as a 
blessing to me, although I did not realize it in its full- 
ness until some hours after. But blessed be the Re- 
deemer, I know now that I am his, and he is mine. I 
no longer w^onder why Christians are happy. Oh, my 
joy, my joy ! The instrument of my salvation has gone 
to God. I had purposed adopting her in the place of 
my little daughter, who is now in heaven. With this 

intention I took her to C , and on my return trip I 

took her back to S , where she left the cars. In 

consultation with my wife in regard to adopting her, she 
replied : ' ' Yes, certainly, and immediately too, for there 
is a divine providence in this. Oh,'' said she, "I never 
could refuse to take under my charge the instrument of 
my husband's salvation." 

I made inquiry for the child at S , and learned 

that in three days after her return she died suddenly, 
without any apparent disease, and her happy soul had 
gone to dwell with her mamma, my little girl, and the 
angels in heaven. I was sorry to hear of her death, but 
my sorrow is turned to joy when I think my angel- 
daughter received intelligence from earth concerning 
her papa, and that he is on the heavenly railway. Oh, 
sir, methinks I see her near the Redeemer. I think I 
hear her sing, ^'I'm safe at home, and papa and mam- 
ma are coming," and I find myself sending back the 
reply : ^'Yes, my darling, we are coming, and will soon 



VITAL RAILWAY BENEFITS 



207 



be there.'* Oh, my dear sir, I am glad that I ever formed 
your acquaintance ; may the blessing of the great God 
rest upon you. Please write to me, and be assured, I 
would be most happy to meet you again. — Rev, /. M. 
Doshj in ' ' Christian Expositor. ' ' ^ 

1 Note. — The above was published as a real incident in a Chris- 
tian journal by an eminent minister of Christ. May it prove a 
saving blessing to many a railroad man and his family. 



208 



THAT RAILROAD MAN 



THE CELESTIAL RAILROAD 



Wm. Miller. 




p 5 I'm go - ing home, I'm go • ing home, I'm go - ing home to die no more I 
( To die no more, to die no more, I'm go - ing home to die no more ! 



mm 



The road to heaven by Christ was made, 
With heavenly truths the rails were laid ; 
From earth to heaven the line extends, 
To life eternal where it ends. — Cho. 



2 Eepentance is the station then. 
Where passengers are taken in ; 
No fee is there for them to pay, 
For Jesus is himself the way. — Cho. 

3 The Bible is the engineer, 

It points the way to heaven so clear ; 
Through tunnels dark and dreary here. 
It doth the way to glory steer. — Cho. 

4 God's love the fire, his truth the steam. 
Which drives the engine and the train ; 
All you, who would to glory ride, 

Must come to Christ, in him abide. — Cho. 

5 Come then, poor sinner, now's the time. 
At any station on the line, 

If you'll repent and turn from sin. 

The train will stop and take you in. — Cho. 

6 That heavenly home is bright and fair. 
No pain nor death can enter there ; 
Its glittering towers the sun outshine. 

That heavenly mansion shall be mine. — Cho. 



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